Adil Oualim, president of the Moroccan House Association
The Moroccan American House Association is a Bay Ridge, Brooklyn-based organization dedicated to solving issues in the Moroccan community as well as the neighborhood as a whole. “It was created to get all the Moroccans together and solve problems, whether it be the death of a person, someone who is sick or lost a job,” explained Adil Oualim, president of the Association. “Our mission is very clear: we want to coordinate with other communities in Brooklyn and have a better Moroccan community.”
Although Moroccans are a well-established community in Bay Ridge, they are considered “new immigrants” as a whole, since most of the population came to the U.S. in the early 1990s, Oualim said. Their issues are the same as anyone else’s.
“Most of them are social,” Oualim said. The Association helps those in the community who need it get access to proper health care, food stamps and immigration services. They also give domestic violence support.
Oualim added that the Arab American Association of New York helps him provide the community with these services.
The Association is actively involved in the greater Bay Ridge community participating in events such as “It’s My Park Day”, which took place in October and was sponsored by the New York City Parks Department.
“We took 14 volunteers to clean Shore Road Park and paint benches,” Oualim said.
They also donated a hundred turkeys to the needy for Thanksgiving along with the Yemeni American Association of Bay Ridge and the Egyptian American Community Foundation in front of State Senator Marty Golden’s office.
For the holiday season, the Association teamed up with the 68 Precinct Community Council and donated gifts to the Guild for Exceptional Children, a non-profit that helps developmentally disabled children, adults and their families.
“We are trying to have orientation with American society. We live here, this is our country,” Oualim said.
The Association is always looking for volunteers.
“We want more Moroccans to come in and participate in social work in the community,” Oualim said. “But we are not only for the Moroccan community. We are willing to do anything that we can to help any other agencies to make New York better.”
The Association will have their first anniversary in March and are planning a celebration – stay tuned.
By Denise Romano, Aslan Media Columnist
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