Lina Harajli.

DEARBORN – ACCESS’ newly appointed Chief Operating Officer said the organization continues to be committed to serving the Arab community and is looking for ways to improve its programs and receive feedback from clients.

Lina Harajli, who was appointed as COO last month, said she will be focused on taking a more detailed approach to integrate ACCESS’ services across the agency in order to enhance the organization’s efficiency.

“We want to look at where we need to increase effectiveness and deal with improving the process of serving clients,” Harajli said in an interview with The Arab American News. 

While the position is not entirely new at ACCESS, Harajli said she will be the first COO to oversee the group’s operations, the administrative part of the organization, and programming, which offers services to client. 

She added that she will be the “internal” person and look for ways to improve ACCESS from within. She will report to Hassan Jaber, ACCESS executive director.

Harajli said the organization’s leadership is looking for ideas to solicit feedback from clients, including holding town hall meetings to listen to the concerns of the community. She added that ACCESS is working on creating a centralized database that will hold client information and medical records to facilitate referrals.

“We want to focus on being able to look at community outreach. That is something we can improve on,” she said. “We have a lot of work to do, but we have to do it together. If something is not working, let’s focus on the ways to make it better. The most important way to do that is to not dilute the problem.”

She added that if there are complaints of longer wait times because of the increased number of clients, she would like to communicate with the community in search for solutions, such as setting up appointments.

Harajli said ACCESS has more than 90 programs to help the community. They include the community health program, which offers services on a sliding fee scale to underinsured and uninsured clients, based on their income; behavioral health division; tutoring services; and English language courses. 

The COO said mental and behavioral health programs are underfunded at ACCESS, despite the organization’s efforts to receive additional funding for this “major focus area.”

Harajli said programs have to be funded to provide services. She added that despite the “tremendous” amount of grants applied for by the organization, some programs lose their funding each year.

She said ACCESS tries to accommodate clients of the programs that lose funding by referring them to other organizations or financing the programs through its reserve funds, depending on their size and importance to the community.

“If we are not funded, we can’t provide the services,” she explained. “It is a battle every non-profit faces. But we create full plan on where to refer patients. We always make sure to refer them to other places that can serve them. We function in the most beneficial way for the community.”

Asked why ACCESS charges people for helping them fill out applications, Harajli said there is a fee for filling out immigration applications only, because the immigration services are not funded.

Harajli started working for ACCESS in 2000. An accountant by education, she held several financial positions until she became the director of business operations before her appointment as COO.

ACCESS has recently stopped using its full name, the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services, on its website and press releases. Harajli said the organization decided to go by the acronym for “simplicity and marketing” purposes, not to shy away from its Arab heritage.

She said the “Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services” is still the official name of the organization and produced tax forms that display the full name.

“We didn’t drop the full name. All of our tax forms, all our documentation, all the contracts that I sign still say Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services, so the official name of  ACCESS continues to be the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services. All we did is we utilize the acronym when it comes to branding purposes,” she explained.

Harajli said ACCESS serves people of all backgrounds, but its programs will continue to be directed to serve Arab Americans.

“Obviously, we are still very committed to serving the Arab community. Our three initiatives are the Arab American Museum, the only museum of its kind; the Center for Arab American Philanthropy; and the National Network of Arab American Communities,” Harajli said. “We are extremely proud of our heritage. We had no notion of dropping ‘Arab.’ That’s not who we are.”

She said the organization’s latest program is the “Take on Hate Campaign,” a $4.5 million initiative to combat bigotry against Arab and Muslim Americans nationally through media and education. 

“Our focus is always going to be to improve the Arab community. We may not be the grassroots agency we once were, with three people volunteering, but we have mission driven-individuals who are all about serving the Arab community locally, regionally and nationally,” she said