About Us

Mission Statement

The Arab American Association of New York is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit social service organization located in Brooklyn, New York. Our mission is to support and empower the Arab immigrant community by providing services that will help them to adjust to their new homeland and become active members of American society. Our aim is for families to achieve the ultimate goals of independence, productivity, and stability.

Who We Serve

Our client base is generally from low-income families, and over 70% of those we serve are women or children. We serve the greater New York City community, with a focus on Arab immigrants living in Brooklyn. Recent estimates by the Arab American Institute put the population of recent Arab immigrants in New York State at over 405,000 individuals, including over 117,000 in Brooklyn alone. We are located in the Bay Ridge area - directly at the heart of this community.

Community Needs

Some of the challenges facing our community include:

Language and cultural barriers
Issues pertaining to immigration
Discrimination and prejudice
Psychological issues involved in adjusting to new cultural norms
Lack of understanding of legal rights and access to legal representation or counsel when necessary
Lack of access to adequate health care, insurance and other benefits
Imbalance of parent-child power relations in families

What We Offer

In order to address the above issues, we provide a variety of programs and services including:

Youth after-school tutoring
English as a Second Language courses
U.S. Citizenship preparation courses
Multilingual Case Management (services available in English, Arabic, Spanish, French and Somali)
Immigration Assistance
Legal and psycho-social consultations
Cultural Events
Educational and Health workshops
Teen empowerment and engagement programs

Please visit our Programs and Services pages for more information.

Organizational History

The founders of the Arab American Association of New York, who were prominent and active members of the Arab and Arab American community and were themselves immigrants, recognized the growing need in the community for a variety of services. They envisioned an organization that would serve the social and economic needs of the growing Arab population in Bay Ridge and the surrounding neighborhoods of Brooklyn, NY. Although the process of establishing the organization began before the September 11th attacks, the founders felt compelled to take more immediate action after they witnessed the heightened sense of fear and the acts of blatant discrimination aimed at their community in the days following the attacks.

It was thus that AAANY officially opened its doors as a not-for-profit organization in December 2001, not only providing invaluable social services to the community, but also empowering and defending the community. Co-founder and current Board President Dr. Ahmad Jaber insisted in a recent Daily News article that "instead of social services, we had to move into empowering the community, defending the community and supporting the community. It was not easy. We had to prove ourselves as Americans, to show that we do care, that we are part of the community." AAANY has served as a bridge between the Arab community and the greater New York City community, fostering more understanding of Arab culture and immigrant issues, serving as a liaison between schools, government and other institutions and residents to address issues of discrimination, as well as providing a variety of culturally sensitive social services.

Over the past nine years, AAANY has grown exponentially. From a single room where apprehensive Arab families met with volunteer counselors, we are now serving thousands of families each year. AAANY has expanded into a robust and respected center for New York City’s Arab community, employing ten full-time staff members specializing in case management, youth and adult programming, community outreach, capacity building, and more.