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Waking up early on weekends; long hours of tough decision making; asking friends and family for donations; juggling school, work and extracurricular activities — these are some of the challenges that come with being part of the only Arab American youth grantmaking program in the country. But for the members of CAAP’s Teen Grantmaking Initiative (TGI), the rewards are worth it.

“Should I pay bills or put food on the table?” Before she found ACCESS, this was a question Susan asked herself regularly. Susan was laid off four years ago from her job at a major automotive supplier and her husband was out of work due to injuries. They were in a crisis situation.

When Murad emigrated from Yemen to Dearborn, he was in fourth grade and was nervous about what life in a new environment and culture would be like. Murad, like so many Yemeni children who come to the United States, didn’t speak much English, either.

Bryan survived two major incidents since coming to the United States from Iraq: the loss of his job and a near-fatal car accident. With a wife and four children to support, Bryan suffers from severe back pain and worries a lot about how to get by. But his worries have been eased, in part, thanks to ACCESS.

Kathleen spent years living a nightmare. She was – in every sense of the word – being hunted. Her estranged husband, who for years had verbally abused Kathleen and her children, was tracking and threatening them as they moved from state to state trying to hide.