At Arab American Family Services, a client will often walk through the door with one concern and in the process, walk out of the door with more assistance then they had known they qualified for.
We believe that knowledge is power, and offering a helping hand makes our days worth it.
Recently, we met a client who had recently moved to Illinois from another state. Her concern was that she did not know where to go to register her children for school.
Due to her limited English skills, she felt she was unable to communicate with the school district, and therefore, was unable to get what they requested from her.
AAFS caseworker and member of the Illinois Welcoming Center, Amani Abbasi took on the case.
She quickly located the school district information that the children would be attending and made the necessary calls to find out all the information that would be needed to register the children.
“Anytime a client comes to you and they are nervous or confused, the only thing you want to do is give it your all, you do everything you can to give them what they need,” said Abbasi.
Abbasi was able to download all the required documents for the school and helped the client fill out each one.
She then made a call to the client’s township clinic and made the children appointments for the school physicals and immunizations.
“After further discussing the clients background, I learned that she qualifies for the medical card for her children, as well as Access to Care for herself,” Abbasi said.
She was able to make the necessary calls and get the client and her children what they needed and more.
“In this profession, our main goal is to help those he need a voice, those who feel that they have not been heard and not been helped,” Abbasi said. “For me, the reward comes from seeing a smile on my client’s face and a sense of relief that is lifted off their shoulders, and that is what it’s all about.”
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