DEARBORN — Times are changing, and so is the local Arab American community.

To reflect a growing and evolving Middle Eastern community in metro Detroit, The Lebanese American Heritage Club (LAHC), a nonprofit social services organization and local household name, has rebranded itself as the Leaders Advancing and Helping Communities.

By operating as an inclusive group, the LAHC aims to broaden the scope of its services and the people it can support.

In November, the foundation officially changed its name and established The Lebanese American Heritage Club as an extension of the larger organization, geared toward youth development programs.

The LAHC, widely considered to be the first organized effort serving a flood of Lebanese immigrants in Dearborn in the 1980’s, was a symbol of the ethnic group since its founding.

However, the Arab American demographic has undergone major transformations, as waves of Iraqi immigrants called Dearborn home in the 1990’s, followed by a slew of others from around the Arab world.

Today, a large concentration of Arab Americans reside in Dearborn, but its earliest organization has matured to serve communities far from their own.

On Thursday, the LAHC partnered with the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department to distribute hundreds of backpacks filled with school supplies to students at Hamilton Academy, an east Detroit K-8 school, to prepare them for the upcoming school year.

By next week, the LAHC will have distributed 1,200 backpacks to students in Detroit and Dearborn.

Wayne County Sheriff Deputy Chief Mike Jaafar, who attended the Detroit event, said the LAHC’s efforts involving his department shines a positive light on law enforcement and sends a message to the school’s predominant African American body that officers care about their safety and well-being.

Jaafar lauded the LAHC’s name change and said the transition to a non-ethnic club sets a standard for other organizations to lead universal humanitarian efforts, regardless of race or ethnicity.

History

At 26, in the early 80s, Ali Jawad, a then-recent immigrant from Lebanon, had no idea regular soccer matches with his close friends would result in an internationally recognized foundation, decades later.

“Why don’t you form a club?” a close friend told Jawad at the time.

In 1982, the LAHC was established as an athletic club, intended for Lebanese Americans to socialize.

As word spread and membership grew, Jawad said meetings began to form, discussing issues concerning the Arab American community. Some of the LAHC’s founding members were involved in politics.

The soccer team was a way to reaching out to youth and get them involved in the community organization.

Soon enough, a mission was born. The LAHC strived to support Lebanese Americans in the larger American society and, more importantly, to unite a Lebanese community divided by a brewing civil war in their home country.

By the mid-80s, the LAHC had established the first scholarship program geared toward Arabs students.

It also hosted top Lebanese singers to perform and even published a newsletter in the 90s.

As Arab Americans further established their roots in Metro Detroit’s economic and social fabric, the LAHC followed suit.

A new generation

The foundation opened up aid to allow any students of Arab descent to apply for its scholarship program.

Wassim Mahfouz, the LAHC’s executive director, said the organization now gives $100,000 in scholarships annually to prospective higher education students, regardless of their ethnicity, investing close to $1.5 million in awards in 29 years.

“The mission has evolved,” Mahfouz said. “From serving only the Lebanese community and from focusing on the cultural and athletic aspect to a broader mission, where we provide educational, youth development health, human and social services.”

With youth as its core, the LAHC heads a leadership and diversity education program, in partnership with a handful of high schools and the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

Mahfouz said the program provides students with leadership skills, diversity education, college preparation, resume building, public speaking and community service opportunities. He added that it employs an evidence-based curriculum that has been implemented at Edsel Ford High School, Frontier International Academy and Universal Academy. Fordson High School will participate next year, serving an additional 650 students.

LAHC’s Healthy Living program, used in five elementary schools in Wayne County and assisting about 1,200 children and families a month, holds free health screenings and stresses the importance of physical fitness education, Mahfouz said.

The LAHC has also been a leading advocate for mental health, substance abuse and suicide prevention awareness in the region.

The organization has founded a community coalition on substance abuse and a program will soon be offered to troubled youth at the 19th District Court.

“The LAHC has reached new heights, touching every aspect of the community, providing social services and hunger relief efforts, educational and youth development aspects,” Mahfouz said.

He said he hopes the foundation will continue to grow in the services it provides and to serve a wider demographic.

As Syrian refugees settle in the area, Mahfouz said he hopes the LAHC will have sufficient resources to supply needed aid to the newcomers.