Muslim Family Services Fundraiser at Burton Manor

By Adil James, TMO

Livonia–March 18–Muslim Family Services (MFS) held a fundraiser Sunday to present their work and to build on their ability to continue to provide services to the community.

The evening began with a welcome by Yusuf Vaid, who thanked Sheikh Suleiman Ali for his hard work, explaining that MFS’ success was due largely to him.

There was a video introduction to MFS, which showed the organization’s work to relieve domestic violence, alleviate poverty, provide psychological care, prevent the breakup of families and ease the breakup of families, helping second generation immigrant Muslims to fit in between the culture gap of their parents and the America in which they were nurtured.

An MFS counselor, Aliah Azmeh, discussed her work with MFS, describing how MFS had provided six lectures in 2011 (more than their target of four) to address social problems in the Muslim community; she explained MFS helps with substance abuse and marriage and divorce, self-esteem issues, prevention of stress.

She also introduced, with a Powerpoint lecture, the work of MFS, broken down by the ethnicity of those who had been helped, and by the type of care that they had sought.
An important function of MFS is to aid in cases in which children are taken from their Muslim parents by Children’s Protective Services–MFS provides the service of directing such children to available Muslim families.  MFS also helps in court-related family cases.

MFS served 465 clients in 2011; about 47% African American.

MFS provides emergency services, providing food in Ramadan, a 24-hour help line; it partners with Gleaners Food Bank, ISCOM, and IAGD.

A vitally important function that MFS provides is a janaza fund–MFS provided 12 janazas in one year–a single janaza can cost as much as $3,000.

MFS also receives and distributes donated cars.

For the future, MFS has three goals, organized matrimonial services, providing temporary housing (for example to battered women), and a Senior Citizen Majma program (day care for adults).

Dr. Abdalmajid Katranji spoke on the vital importance of supporting MFS to help protect the community.

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