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Brand the Interpreter
What if La Malinche—the Indigenous woman who famously served as interpreter and advisor to Hernán Cortés during the Spanish conquest of Mexico—could share her stories? Imagine the insights and experiences she could offer about the power of language and navigating the complexities of two worlds. That’s the spirit behind the Brand the Interpreter Podcast!
Hosted by Mireya Pérez, an interpreter and personal brand advocate, this podcast gives today’s interpreters a platform to share their own fascinating stories, challenges, and triumphs. Each episode pulls back the curtain on the world of interpreting, from navigating high-stakes conversations to facilitating cross-cultural understanding, offering listeners a glimpse into the lives of the professionals who bring meaning across languages.
Whether you’re an interpreter, a bilingual professional, or simply curious about the magic that happens behind the scenes, Brand the Interpreter immerses you in the stories of language professionals making an impact every day. It’s more than just a podcast—it’s a celebration of language, connection, and the vital human element that makes communication possible.
Join us to explore how the power of language, driven by human connection, shapes understanding, opens new worlds, and transforms perspectives, revealing the deeper truths that unite us all.
Brand the Interpreter
Language Access Services in Non-Profit Organizations with Alisa Pifine
Today's enriching conversation with Alisa Pifine, director of language access services for Catholic Charities in Louisville, Kentucky, gives a detailed insight into the evolution of language access in her community. From working at a credit union to becoming a crucial part of a non-profit organization, Alisa's journey is truly inspiring. She talks about the language access program at Catholic Charities, underlining the vital role of trained interpreters, especially in legal settings for victims of crime.
Among the many topics we cover, the significance of mental health for interpreters stands out. We discuss practical techniques to prevent burnout and establish the importance of understanding culture and heritage in the professional life of an interpreter. Emphasizing the need for resources that cater to interpreters' mental health, aiming to create a supportive environment for these critical language professionals.
Tune in! Only on the podcast that shares your stories about our profession; brand the interpreter!
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https://www.facebook.com/CatholicCharitiesofLouisville
https://twitter.com/CC_Louisville
https://www.instagram.com/cclouisville/
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www.brandtheinterpreter.com
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Speaker 1:Hello and welcome to another episode of the Brandy Interpreter podcast. This is Mireya, your host, and I'd like to thank you for joining me here today. Again, I know that it's been a while since I've shown up actually with a new episode, and the reason for that is that there has been a lot going on in the background with regards to just some personal things that were going on. Mainly and the biggest point that I wanted to share with you today is that I made a big move, an actual physical move. So many of you know that I am a born and raised Californian and have been there all my life, and just recently I moved to the East Coast. Oh my God, now I don't know how long this move is going to last. I think the first winter might really determine it all. Nevertheless, it is a temporary move for the time being, but I will be here for the next couple of years and then maybe at some point, hopefully, I will be back in sunny Southern California, but for now, I am enjoying my time out here in Virginia. That's right, and fall is beautiful so far out here, but I am already cold. I have to admit it Once again I'm born and raised in Southern California and so I don't know how this is going to be, but that is the reason why I've been radio silent for a few weeks, and even for social media, it's been hard to be able to keep up with it all.
Speaker 1:So, either way, I'm happy that you're here and I'm happy that I am back and established enough for me to be able to push out episodes on the podcast, because, at the end of the day, this is what I enjoy doing. I very much enjoy having conversations with individuals, learning more about them, learning more about language access, learning about the industry and just the very many ways in which these services are offered, not just by the individuals that provide the services meaning the interpreters and translators, but also by the individuals that have oversight of these programs and in the different entities that these services are being offered. So I enjoy this and then, of course, I enjoy sharing the information with you all, in hopes that you're able to obtain some information, inspiration, motivation whatever TION word you want to insert in there which is, in fact, what Brand the Interpreter was always created for to be able to offer these stories and offer the information and have it readily available to share out with the industry, with folks such as yourselves that continue to come back to listen to the stories of other professionals out in the field. So thank you once again for always supporting this podcast. Thank you for your support on social media. I felt the love when I posted this last post on Instagram. Just thank you so much for acknowledging that you do follow and support the content that I push out. It means a lot and, of course, it absolutely motivates me to keep showing up and keep sharing content. So let's get into today's episode.
Speaker 1:On today's Brand the Interpreter episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Alisa Pofini, a director of language services for a non-profit organization called Catholic Charities out in Louisville, kentucky. Early on in her career, alisa recognized the societal divide caused by language barriers. She noticed how such barriers isolated individuals within her community, sparking a lifelong dedication to breaking these cultural walls. And today Alisa shares with us her journey from a credit union in Louisville, kentucky, to a role in language access working with a non-profit organization. So, without further ado, please help me welcome Alisa Pofini to the show. Alisa, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for being here today. It is a privilege to be able to have the opportunity to share your story. How are you? I'm well.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for having me Absolutely.
Speaker 1:I'm excited to get down into today's conversation and, like I said, just being able to share everything that you're doing currently in the world of language access with interpreting and translating services. But before we do all that, of course this audience knows that first we get to know the person. So tell us a little bit, Alisa, about where you grew up and what a fond childhood memory of yours is.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, I am a lifetime Louisvillian.
Speaker 2:I was born and raised here in Louisville, kentucky.
Speaker 2:A cradle Catholic, so to speak, lived here my whole life and it's been just amazing and I'm sure we can get into more of this a little later but to watch the diversity of our city just kind of grow over the years, it's been really a privilege to see.
Speaker 2:As far as childhood memories and this is silly, but I can remember my parents taking me to a football game I think it must have had to have been a high school football game, because we don't have any proteins here in Louisville but I can remember as a really small child I must have gotten separated from my parents and the people sitting in the bleachers picked me up and passed me up row by row to my parents who were at the top of the bleachers, and I just that's a memory that has stuck with me all this time. You know I'm not a young person anymore, so but I just I remember, I can still remember all of the different faces of each person that you know took a hold of me to pass me to the next person, and in my mind I remember that as this hug from each individual person. I don't know. I guess that's just kind of clung with me forever.
Speaker 1:Beautiful it mentions the site nowadays. For someone to have recorded that in upload, you would have been viral, alisa, maybe.
Speaker 2:Or my parents would have gotten arrested for getting separated from me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, good point Are my, especially with nowadays. Yeah, everything Exactly Go either way, right? Oh, that's so great. You mentioned the diversity aspect currently in Louisville. Talk to us about when, when you were growing up, what, what that was like for you. Did you grow up in a multilingual household, monolingual household? And then you know what was it like then compared to now, as you mentioned diversity, sure.
Speaker 2:You know, no, I did not grow up in a bilingual home. My parents, you know, were very just, I guess, average, normal people. My mother grew up on a farm. My dad was a local. You know Louisville was just kind of a. This was, you know, early 70s. Louisville was kind of a small sleepy town, but the efforts of Catholic charities really started to ramp up in the way of refugee resettlement and about the mid to late 80s here and so Louisville started to experience this cultural explosion as folks started to arrive and make their homes here, and that was right about the time that I was, you know, 16, 17 years old, so I was coming of age around that time and I was watching. It's really been so very cool from that time to now where, you know, almost 10% of Louisville's population is foreign born. So you know, that's what, from the mid 80s to now, that's kind of a short time to have that much growth and to have the diversity of so many different cultures and countries represented here. It's amazing.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So what has it been like in terms of when, once you started, you know, getting into the professional world, meaning you start your career and start working, eventually leading you to? You mentioned just now Catholic charities. But before we get that to that, how did you begin to see the need of these particular communities and what were perhaps your surroundings like in being able to fulfill those needs? So what were you sort of seeing or observing?
Speaker 2:At that time, I think, I don't know that I felt as if I was a person who was qualified to provide anything. But I did notice, you know, when I would see people in the store or, you know, out and about there was, I'd noticed pretty quickly that there was this language gap, that and that was present, and it was pretty obvious that those folks were more isolated. It felt to me that they were isolated because of that. It felt to me that we, as the natives or locals, had set them apart because of the language difference.
Speaker 1:Wow, yeah, that's pretty powerful and it hurt, yeah yeah, but being able to sort of see that sort of like an outside lens but at the same time, you are, this is your community, you're seeing it grow, you're seeing the diversity come through, but being able to recognize that there is a challenge and the fact that you've identified it was, you know, most importantly the language aspect challenge that felt like they were, like you mentioned just now, sort of isolated in their own pockets. Right, potentially, talk to me a little bit about you know, with regards to just your involvement, eventually, in the language access aspect, how did you begin that journey of being able to even become a part of well, in this case being the solution, but eventually that you know that that was later on down the path. How did you begin in this path?
Speaker 2:Well, I think you know, as I said, I've not had formal training for this type of work and so I've always known I wanted to be a nurse as a kid and I've always known that. You know, I had that drive to want to be involved with helping a situation. And when I finished school, my first job, very first job, was in a really small credit union here in Louisville. And if you don't know a lot about credit unions, they're member owned, first of all. They're also not-for-profit organizations and so folks who have a common bond for example, their employment or where they live or where they go to church when you have a common bond, all these people they get together, they pool their money. The ones who need to borrow can borrow. The ones who need to save get a better you know return on their investment for savings. So this is a cooperative, a financial cooperative that comes together.
Speaker 2:And when I first entered credit unions it was again we were really small operations and actually I became part of that movement. It was incredible. We were encouraged to become activists, you know, always working to keep credit unions tax-free, with their tax exempt organizations, just like any other nonprofit would be, and there was always this conflict. It was like banks and credit unions, banks and credit unions. So we were the champions for the credit unions and we really a lot of our efforts paid off, because now when you look at credit unions and banks side by side, it's really hard to tell the difference. You know if you're not someone that's in that industry. But at the time we felt like we were being people's champions.
Speaker 2:But and I got to be very passionate about people who seem to be underserved for whatever reason they couldn't get a checking account at Chase. I don't even remember what the reasons were at that time, but they obviously needed financial services. Someone needed to be able to provide that for them. You have people that maybe couldn't get approved for a loan anywhere else, but they go to their credit union where people know them and there's more of that. You know personal commitment and you know the people that you're borrowing from. That you're all in the same group. So that kind of is where I started. You know, when it comes to trying to champion a cause or an effort and work, I mean, the whole slogan for credit unions were people helping people, and it was really, really easy to get behind that movement.
Speaker 1:Now, for those of us that are geographically challenged, give us an idea of where exactly Louisville, kentucky, is on the map. Let's say, for those that are like listening and trying to identify where it is, and then, what are your surrounding areas? Just so that we can get a visual.
Speaker 2:Well, we're landlocked. Kentucky is Louisville is. It's a weird place. We're not exactly south but most of the time we consider ourselves southerners. We're right on the border with Indiana. Kentucky shares a border with Indiana, ohio, missouri I'm trying to think of now I'm showing off my bad geography but we're in the Midwest, basically Tennessee to our south, indiana to our north. It's kind of just a quiet, unassuming area. I mean, we love our college teams no pro teams here, for sure.
Speaker 1:I don't know why that is, but that's so interesting because, yeah, I'm always thinking for those that don't know. I just recently moved to the East Coast and so I'm always thinking where am I on the map? And so whenever I do bring up the map and I see how far away I am from home, I'm like holy cow.
Speaker 2:How did I end up over here? You know, I think it's amazing. You can look at a map. When you look in detail at the geographic shape of the land and mountains or valley areas, it's really easy to understand how things evolved and what physical barriers were there.
Speaker 1:So yeah, no for sure. It's just thinking just in me, feeling how far away I am from home and yet I'm still in my own country, imagining individuals that are coming from a completely different country and seeing where they land per se, where they end up, how far away that must seem for them, because you just mentioned refugees and resettlement and all of that stuff that goes with potentially just I don't want to say necessarily traumatic, but it's just a big event for families, for individuals.
Speaker 1:So, that's why the mention of just where on the map, potentially right now not potentially, but right now we could find Louisville, kentucky, just to get a visual of that. So talk to us then. Elisa, you mentioned right at the beginning Catholic Charities. Let's get into how you end up actually doing the work in just community involvement and community support and what exactly led you down this path, and then we'll get into all of the things that you're doing currently. So let's get into how you end up with Catholic Charities and why Catholic Charities.
Speaker 2:Well, that is actually a very funny story. I was really getting the feeling that my time at the credit union was done. I had done what I could do. I really needed to move on to another challenge and, without my knowledge, a friend of mine, who's freezed he, had seen this position open with Catholic Charities. They were looking for someone who had some marketing background and could help them with expanding into the Lexington market. At that time we were really trying to work together with Lexington to provide a more comprehensive language access program, more on a statewide level, and there's a lot.
Speaker 2:Louisville and Lexington are kind of like the hubs, right? I mean, yes, there's other places in Kentucky, but those are the big cities and so, like I said, I didn't know that this friend of mine had forwarded my resume. So when I got a call, I came in and talked and I remember at that time my boss said to me so I know you've read the job description, tell us how you think that your skills will benefit us and what we need here. And I hadn't read the job description because I didn't know my resume had been submitted and there was no option. I knew that I was dealing with people who would see right through it, and so I had no choice but to fall on my sword and say I'm sorry, I'm busted. I didn't read the job description, but I was able to catch up pretty quickly and explain how I thought I could be of help with achieving those expansion goals. Anyway, I remember leaving my interview thinking, oh my gosh, I couldn't have bombed any worse than I did. But I got a call on the way home. So I guess stranger things have happened.
Speaker 2:But not long after I started with Catholic Charities, the program director in language services decided that she was going to be moving on to another opportunity and the position came open and was offered to me and I thought, wow, I don't have a background in language access. My Spanish is good enough to get me arrested, so what do they see here? But I do come with a marketing and business background, business development background. That's what I have always done. That was why credit unions were such a great fit for me. I feel like I could sell a comb to a bald man. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:And credit unions worked. I believed in the movement and it was easy for me to go out and talk to people about the benefits of becoming a credit union member. So I just you know, the more I learned about language access, the more I learned about refugee, resettlement and my gosh just all of the things that are involved in that. I knew this was where I was called to be, I mean, and I have been here since 2017. And I don't want to go anywhere. This is where I'm at this is where I belong.
Speaker 1:Alisa, you mentioned, you know, the work in the credit union and those efforts and the observations that you were able to make of the community members that were in need of these particular services. But I think that we could all agree that the work or who you work with in banking institutions, as opposed to the community or the institutions that service communities, is like, you know, day and night, right? Yes, what were some of the things that you began to immediately see with? Working with, you know, with an organ? Is it a nonprofit Catholic Charity? As a nonprofit, yes, yes, working, yeah, from a, from you know, with the nonprofit organization who is basically boots on the ground trying to provide services that are going to support such just sensitive issues at times. Right, what was that like for you?
Speaker 2:Well, that's actually it's a great question and it's a really important part of our faith. You know, we serve people regardless of their religion. It doesn't. You don't have to be Catholic to be a client here. You don't have to be Catholic to be an employee. That's not a requirement. But what you do have to understand is the Catholic social teachings and our responsibility to take care of one another. Okay, catholics believe in serving one another, and that just became it. This has just been the perfect fit for me. You know, I understand business, I understand how how to make a business operate smoothly, but I've always been, I've always had a big heart, and so for me, someone who's profit driven that part really doesn't work for me, but everything else does. And so I'm this weird creature that kind of fits with this, this mold. You know it's, it's like I was made for it or something.
Speaker 1:And the communities that you were serving. How, what, what did you begin to see that that differed from, potentially, the communities that you were working with? You know, in your we'll call it past life, with the, with bank?
Speaker 2:Honestly, that was the first thing I saw. That was the first thing I was able to identify. When someone arrives, I mean they've got a lot of stuff to take care of. You know, when they first arrive in this country, you've got to get your children registered for school, there's health examinations, there's signing up for oh my gosh, you know all the things that you, all the things that we take for granted when you get a job, when you're 16, and you got your driver's license or, you know, ordered your social security card. I mean that is a lot to handle all at once and if you don't speak the language you know, it makes it that much harder yet there was something established there, because you said that the program Director with the title was yes, moved on to other things.
Speaker 1:So there was a language access program Established, yes. When you made that transition, what did you learn that stood out for you in terms of the topic of language Access? What was something, or a couple of things, that you felt I didn't know this before and Interesting how that applies to the communities, or or something that you may recall.
Speaker 2:Well, I can definitely. I'm sure there are Probably earlier things that I noticed, but a couple of years ago we had the, you know, the opportunity to work on a federal project where we had received federal grant funds from the office for victims of crime and we did a project that was geared toward improving language access for folks who Either don't speak English as a first language or part of the deaf or hard of hearing community, and so Our role in that was really about spoken language, and one of the things that I learned fairly early on, you know, we were providing interpreters with training. If you've not worked with someone who's been the victim of a crime or been victimized, you know there may be things that are going to come up that you don't expect. So we wanted interpreters to be able to be prepared for that. You know, because oftentimes when you walk into the room as an interpreter, everybody is looking at you to be the one you know to run the meeting. You're the boss, you're the one that everybody looks to you for answers, and so you know, we try really hard to prepare our interpreters for things.
Speaker 2:And one thing I realized, and this is it makes. It makes perfect sense. I never thought of it if a crime victim has to go to court and Face their attacker, if they're using an interpreter and their you know attacker is as well, they're going to be using the same interpreter. That makes total sense because obviously the interpreter is there as, as you know, as a function of the court, they're non-biased. They're there, you know, to perform that task of relink. You know the message from the witnesses.
Speaker 2:You know I'm probably not saying all this, right, as a neutral party. Yes, they're totally, totally neutral. Right, you know, a lot of times those types of trials or situations get superheated and you know if those who have interpreted in court settings can probably think of times that there's been uncomfortable Incidences or things that have come up. But if you're not prepared, especially if you've already been told by your attorney that you know You've been prepped and you've got to go in and you've got to tell the truth and this is exactly what happened, and now you're working with the same interpreter, it almost can feel like a betrayal. You know what I mean, because all along, all the people that are working with you are really they're trying to accompany you, they're working, walking with you through this process and I don't know that. That to me, even though it makes sense, it just seemed wow, I never thought about that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and that's just like one great example of the importance of having trained interpreters in Encounters such as such as this one, because no one that's bilingual would you know, think about. Many of these aspects that are taught are elements that are taught during training, as as an interpreter training. So you know, just because you're bilingual Doesn't necessarily mean that you're gonna think about all these things, right, I'll be you. You may feel more inclined towards the victim as opposed to the perpetrator or something of the sort, right? So I could see how that can definitely be a Difficulty or something that stood out to you, maybe even eventually, as you started your work with Catholic Charities.
Speaker 1:I wanted to sort of come back to this topic of Catholic Charities.
Speaker 1:So, for those individuals that are hearing Catholic Charities for the first time and don't really or aren't really familiar With with Catholic Charities and what they service and how it's involving your particular case with language access, because and I say this as, as you know, just someone that has Encountered Catholic Charities as an entity in a community and you know it had a presence in a very rural community when I was growing up as a kid, but language access services was not a part of what the services that they offered, and so it differs, it looks like, right depending on the demographics and the need, I imagine, on all sorts of things. So so walk us through sort of just just a general idea of what Catholic Charities is, and, in this particular case, the one out in Louisville, kentucky, sure what it, what it provides, what type of services it's providing, so that individuals could sort of understand, because it sounds like we're talking about a language service agency, but then we keep mentioning Catholic Charities. Yes, so that we can paint a clearer picture, if you will, sure of course.
Speaker 2:So there's this old saying that if you've seen one Catholic Charities, you've seen one Catholic Charities, and that's because Each Catholic Charities that's located throughout the country is serving a unique population, so their services are going to be unique. Now Catholic Charities functions as the Service arm, the social service arm of the Catholic Church All of the things that we believe as Catholics when it comes to serving others, that this is where the rubber meets the road, right, like you said, boots on the ground. So you know this is not. You know this is putting our faith into action. This is what we do all the time when it comes to refugee resettlement. This is all part of welcoming the stranger and Assisting people, you know, at their time of need.
Speaker 2:Out of that work that work with refugee resettlement, oh, you know, helping people to kind of get acclimated to their new surroundings it became pretty obvious for us very early on that language was going to be an issue, and so, you know, people start getting asked to help interpret as they can, and Our language access program just naturally evolved out of that need. It allowed us to pay people to employ them almost immediately when they arrive, you know, providing them with the dignity of work, respecting their schedules, so that they can do the things that they need to do with their families and they can work around those needs. Oftentimes, refugees have to take really low-paying jobs that they're overqualified for, just because they have to meet with that employment requirement within I believe it's night Don't quote me, I'm not an immigration specialist but I believe it's within 90 days. And that's a busy, that's a really busy 90 days, as we talked about earlier. But Allowing folks providing the training you know to work as an interpreter, it really I think it Respects them as a human respect, respects their level of intelligence and the skills they have.
Speaker 2:You know it's not easy to be bilingual. It isn't some people. You know you're born into it, you live in a bilingual home. That's wonderful. I wish more people had that. You know they used to say that people who only spoke one language were all called Americans.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Well, when you think about it, it's true, it became pretty, pretty obvious that early on that language was going to be an ongoing need, not only for the work that we do within the organization but for all of our local partners that we work with. You know our hospitals, doctors, schools, attorneys, court system. You know large employers, you know who else? All of these people touch the lives of Refugees in one way or another. All these organizations, you know refugees. They have the right to be able to access these services and communicate clearly. So that was pretty easy to figure out and the language access program just kind of grew up all around that.
Speaker 1:So, okay, community Settings that you just mentioned, all sorts of you know right community programs and services that Individuals are trying to access and being able to do that through trained interpreters and working with trained interpreters. And speaking of training, it's not only that your specific Catholic charities is offering language services to the community Institutions or the community settings, you're also providing the training that's necessary to prepare You're bilingual individuals that are part of the programs before they even go out there. So we're talking about that earlier. Talk to us a little bit more about what particular program You're utilizing and you know how that came to.
Speaker 2:Be basically, sure, so we have been licensed to offer bridging the gap medical interpreter training since 2007. We hold a level two license, so we can, you know, we're allowed to train people that are in our local vicinity believe that's Pretty much going to cover here, louisville, in Lexington. But since COVID those rules have kind of been changed and we've, you know, more agencies are able to offer that training online now. So we offered in a number of different ways. In addition to that, we recently have a trainer who has gotten certified to provide Bridging the gap in mental health, which is a 24-hour addendum for bridging the gap.
Speaker 2:The two programs do Differ just slightly. If you've worked in mental health settings, you know that you do need to. It's not exactly consecutive interpreting, but not exactly Simultaneous either. You just have to be a little quicker on the that. Consecutive, yes, but yes, consecutive exactly. In addition to that, oh my gosh, we're constantly looking for, you know, I mean this is as the program has evolved, you know Now we're constantly, you know, scoping out free opportunities for our interpreters to gain, you know, more training. More. We don't we're not eligible to give CEUs right, but we do find training that's helpful to them and free things that are going to make them a better interpreter, you know, a better advocate for someone who speaks limited English and Better representative of the agency.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I we. When we talked earlier Pre-recording, I had mentioned the fact that it's like you're creating Catholic charities in this community is creating sort of like its own ecosystem of language access services, right, you're bringing in the people, are coming to Catholic charities for Support and resources. Oftentimes these are refugee and resettlement individuals and then they're receiving training to be able to provide the services to Potentially the next wave of individuals that might need the support and so basically creating its own ecosystem of training language services, correct?
Speaker 2:Yes, and I realize you know, obviously there is National certification for several languages, but here in Louisville we have several languages that are needed that you can't get national certification for, and and so we kind of use the model that those national certification bodies, we use the same model to try to provide the interpreter with all of the same qualifications and requirements.
Speaker 2:You know that the ongoing training requirements, language proficiency exams we work with national partners on that level to make sure that our interpreters, just because we can't provide that national certification or help, you know do that. We are trying to tick all of those boxes to make sure that if they want to move on or if that ever becomes available in their languages, that they're able to do that relatively, you know, without too much trouble and it's a way of, you know, managing a person's expenses to get into this. You know, when you go into any kind of contract work like this, you know there's going to be a lot of upfront costs and so you know we try to manage that. You know obviously there needs to be some buy-in right, but we do try to manage that for interpreters who are coming on board with us or wanting to consider this as a profession.
Speaker 1:I often think about when institutions or agencies or entities that you know whatever we want to name them in community settings are in need of language access services for their own demographics.
Speaker 1:I'm specifically thinking about education, right? So school districts that are in need of trained interpreters that they may not necessarily have in-house or potentially for languages of lesser diffusion, and they don't necessarily have, like, an established language access plan, even though that would be the ideal right? No, so they don't necessarily know where to go for language access services other than asking untrained bilingual staff that happen to speak the language for support. What would your recommendation be for these institutions to be able to branch out and work with local nonprofit organizations to sort of create their own ecosystem of individuals that can support with this specific topic? I realize that Catholic Charities is different in its own, different location demographics, but maybe it could be other nonprofit organizations that understand the community and the demographics potentially a little bit better than a school district may with regards to language and the different languages that they serve. What would you recommend from that angle?
Speaker 2:First of all and anybody who's done interpreting professionally understands this. It's not just the language, it's the culture that comes along with it. So that's a huge piece of really understanding the needs of the folks in your community who are going to need that support. I can really only speak to this from through the lens of language access, but I did mention that culture was was an incredibly big part of that. Understanding your community and what they need and just reaching out to someone. Like you know, they don't have to be local to reach out and ask a question, right, and so it's not a problem.
Speaker 2:I don't mind at all to have a phone call and somebody say you know, we're trying to start a language access program here. Where do we get started? What do we do? How do we? How do we start out with that? And really relying on other professionals in the industry, people who who already know what this is, I have yet to. There's people of all kinds, but I've yet to find an interpreter who wasn't, who wasn't willing to answer a question of mine or be willing to, you know, work with me or share a story about something that was important to them. So you know, even if you're just asking an individual interpreter. They're going to share the agencies that they're working with with you. That's going to be a place where you can start and reach out and say how do you all administer this? You know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think I, I feel like it's important for particularly community settings.
Speaker 1:I know that those that are working directly with the community you know as like that's the sole purpose understand potentially the community, the language demographics, just the language diversity that may exist compared to perhaps again I go back to the educational institution so school districts who potentially may be asking what other languages are spoken at home, but who don't necessarily have the resources to support or follow up on that question, right, it's just for identification and reporting purposes. So I'm always thinking of these institutions that may not even necessarily be thinking, hey, let's reach out to our local nonprofit, who does have that responsibility of working directly with our community, so that we can get a better understanding of who it is we're serving and how we can potentially work together to better serve. Because in your particular case, alisa, I'm thinking maybe, like, the local school district is contacting Catholic charities to support them with their language access services, whereas to maybe an administrator from a local school district that may be listening to us hadn't even thought about reaching out to a local nonprofit, right? So that's what.
Speaker 1:I'm thinking, yeah, how is it that we could make that connection in communities so that they are reaching out to their local nonprofits that are working or have potentially a better understanding? I'm also thinking about the situation out, or one of the situations out, in the state of Washington in which the local, a local nonprofit, was tasked with basically coming up with a report, doing an analysis and report of the language needs that were needed in the local community, but very specifically for public services. So there are programs and services, so it was tied together, but it was led by a nonprofit organization on in the that was well established in the community. So that's why I was bringing that up?
Speaker 2:Sure, and I'll tell you we have an excellent relationship with our local school district. We work together on a lot of things. Actually we're, because we have such a large foreign born population here in a large LEP community. Our schools, our school district here locally, is a really resourceful partner for us. You have to register your child for school, right. Even if you don't put them in school, you have to at least say, hey, I'm homeschooling and, you know, provide information that way. But our local school district is probably the best resource that I can think of when it comes to needing kind of a map or a landscape of the languages that are spoken in your area. You have to register your child for school and these are questions that are asked when you register. So the school is going to have really good data that can be shared, because it's not, you know, person specific. But they can share this with you so that you know, you can have better information to tailor services around and know what to what to plan.
Speaker 2:For Our local school district they have a language access office that serves the whole county. They try to hire for as many languages as they know that they're going to need on an ongoing basis. We have gosh. A lot of our contract interpreters teach with the school district, so you know that is is really closely related and really helpful information to us. In addition to them sharing that language data with us, you know we have the good fortune of being very closely connected with the Kentucky Office for Refugees and they actually will work with us so that we know, you know, how many families we have arriving. You know what, how many individuals that that equates to the languages that they speak, and if they have children or, you know, elderly among them. You know things like that. So all of that is really helpful data to us, exactly To know what we need to be providing now and what we need to be planning for.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm just thinking also in terms of the money that is that is given to our public schools. A lot of the requirements are about community partnerships and, you know, being able to to create this community partnerships with local community businesses to be able to sort of again I go back to this word ecosystem. You know, creating these ecosystems with partnerships between their students, sometimes being able to even align some of the services that are offered in the local community setting to individuals, maybe like the high school students that are learning another language, and being able to make that connection right, those or even create new programs. But again, this is in conjunction with what is already out there, established in the community, and being able to work together hand in hand, like that.
Speaker 1:I'm also thinking like, even like their bilingual staff that are not trained, being able to send them to you know places like Catholic Charities to receive the training you know, have that collaboration, and then being able to come back and actually have bilingual trained staff for when it is needed, maybe potentially right. Just all sorts of different stuff that support language access.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Not.
Speaker 2:Not only are we working with staff in that way to train bilingual staff that you know work as staff members or you know part of the faculty you know at our local schools, but we're also working with students and guidance counselors as students are graduating, especially students that were raised in bilingual homes, because they have that language ability. And what's sad to me, maria, that I've noticed is I see children of immigrants who maybe feel like they don't fit in and then, when you pile on top of that, you have to make these choices about college and what do you do. And that's a lot to decide at a young age. You know it is kind of unfair, but to see their abilities with communication, if they can speak multiple languages, starts to show them that they can see that as a positive thing. I mean, oh my gosh, you know, I'm sure I mean, how cool would that be To be able to just, you know, travel all the time for your job and go to exotic places and to be a fly on the wall in every conversation. That is so cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's. Oh my gosh, don't get me started on that topic. We've got, you know, we've got a whole, actually, episode on Brandy interpreter, on a cultivation versus assimilation and just how individuals, particularly those of us that grew up in bilingual households, we try to detach ourselves from the language and the culture because we become ashamed, because there's a saying in Spanish that it goes ni de aquí ni de allá, which is basically not from here nor from there, because we feel like we're in this middle right, in this middle section of I'm not fully this and I'm not accepted as fully this, but I'm also not fully that and I'm not accepted as fully that. So, you know, we try to, you know, basically assimilate to the culture that we are in, that we do want to connect with and we want to release or let go of anything that is not that. And so for many high school students I feel, just teenagers, just in general, right, they go through this process of sort of wanting to detach themselves from the language, run into the touches themselves, maybe even from the culture, and are, I could say, speaking for myself, even ashamed.
Speaker 1:You know, I was born and raised in Los Angeles and even though I was surrounded by many Spanish speaking individuals, particularly in the community that we grew up with. In school it was English only. Obviously right, it was. My friends spoke English, my teachers spoke English. Why do I need to speak Spanish? For what? You know, what do I need to do? Do that for.
Speaker 1:But it was thanks to my father that was always insistent on at home you speak Spanish. Outside the house, you can speak English, but in home because he was it wasn't so much that you know he didn't want me to speak the English language at home, because he understood it. They understood it. They went to school and, you know, did their ESL classes to understand it. It was that he did not want me to lose the Spanish. Yeah, exactly so, and he knew I needed to practice it.
Speaker 1:So, you know, being able to have what I'm getting at is being able to have entities such as Catholic Charities present and active in the community, demonstrating what language ability is about right, because when we're growing up and we're forced to become the family interpreter, it's like I don't want to be that when I go up yeah, why it's free, it's torturous and, you know, there's too much expectation. But when we are able to demonstrate that languages are a part of effective communication and that there is much more to it than what we see growing up, that it's a profession, right, that it could fulfill even your desire to be able to help and support your community and give back to your community by means of transferring messages between languages. I think that it sort of changes At least that's what happened to me. It sort of changes your perspective on the topic of languages, right, and what a privilege it is for us to be able to navigate both worlds, exactly.
Speaker 2:And to your point. I think it's important that young people get that message, that they understand that they can take this feeling of isolation and, like you said, neither here nor there and they can take control of it, because when you're, you know minding your dad and you're doing what he says and you're speaking Spanish at home like he's. I mean, my dad was the same way. We weren't bilingual, but he was always you know. Family is never, is very important. Never lose it. You know your heritage is very important. Never lose it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And this was always when I had a fight with my sister or something, but you know. But? But yeah, parents are that way and thank goodness we are, you know. I say we because, as a parent now I understand where that was coming from, from him. Yeah, but to tell a person that they can take control of this, as opposed to being controlled by it or having that as a factor that you know you're getting asked to interpret, here, there, whatever, to pursue a career this way and to put yourself in that position, it gives you choices that you didn't have before, and you may still not choose them, but they're there, mm. Hmm, they're available to you, you know.
Speaker 1:For sure, yeah, it's such a, it's such a great topic because it definitely especially for the youngsters. Right when I would go into, I used to work for the school district and we would, they would invite us to do presentations for career week and so we would go in as language professionals to introduce the profession to the young minds. Because growing up, as I said, you didn't really hear that interpreting was a profession, right, or translation was a profession, and so one of my favorite sort of specialty areas to introduce to these, to these young students, was you know you can combine your skillsets. So you know you combine your language ability and then you combine your other love for something else. Let's say it's gaming, and you can do what's called localization for gaming companies and you still get to play all day, exactly, or from home, utilize your skills, and their eyes would just like open up, like what? That's a thing, right.
Speaker 2:I'm going to steal that from you next time.
Speaker 1:It's. It was just lovely to see, you know, their faces light up in terms of the language. When you talk about language by itself, particularly for those that are bilingual, it sounds like a boring topic. But when you bring in these other components professionalism, you know the industry and other things that you can combine them with and to see their little light I mean their little eyes light up, it was just like, oh, I got it. I got what you guys are looking at, right, just a combination of skillsets.
Speaker 1:So anyway, lisa, it was just, you know, this idea of being able to bring together the resources out in a community, particularly for those community interpreters that are out there navigating potentially some of these uncharted waters and needing ideas to maybe present. And I know that you and I, pre recording, talked about something that's near and dear to your heart, which is about how contractors are better able to leverage the relationships that they have with language service agencies to achieve their career and income goals you had mentioned. So let's dive a little bit into that and what those recommendations are for you, so that we can leave our listeners with some resources and potentially some even to do is, especially if they're just starting out in the in the professional interpreting career.
Speaker 2:Well, I'll say don't look at agencies as as language. You know providing agencies as anyone that wants to hurt you because they need you. Okay, I can't speak for for for profit agencies. I can only speak from my experience here with Catholic Charities, but you know we view our interpreters as as the professionals that they are. Okay, there's so many things that could not happen or get done without their assistance.
Speaker 2:Talk with these agencies, find out what you know, what their rules are, who their clients are, who they're serving, who they're working with. For example, catholic Charities here in Louisville, we specialize in spoken language medical interpreting. That was the biggest need that we saw and that's the biggest group of clients that we had been providing services for, as folks who you know, spoke multiple languages. So which I'm trying to explain, that's why we don't offer ASL. Okay, that's just. It's. It's it's important, but it's we don't readily have folks arriving that require that. Anyway, so you know, find out what they're paying. Oftentimes an agency is going to pay less than what you would charge if you were working on your own and going to do an interpreting assignment. You have to think about things like what's, what's the agency's position in the community? How does the community. See, this agency, catholic Charities, has been established here for a long time. We have a very good reputation in the Louisville area for providing really well trained, top quality interpreting services, and so interpreters who provide these great services. So you know, ask about the. You know the agency's reputation.
Speaker 2:A lot of my job is a lot of my time is spent meeting with partners, making new connections with businesses and whether they're required to comply with Title 6 or not, because I will get up on a title, so soapbox. But you know that's a different time, right, you know, but but I love to introduce this as an idea to businesses that don't have to comply, because I've just opened up a brand new market to them. You know exactly, and so you know ask that that's a lot of what I do, that's how I spend most of my time. So I am constantly out there trying to bring in new business and create more opportunities for the interpreters who are working with us. You know we have a contract and handbook. You know policies that our interpreters have to abide by. Those rules are in place for a reason. You know we were working almost as a cooperative here in this. This is a social enterprise program, but you know we have to maintain these rules.
Speaker 2:This is how we manage to get this reputation so great and Louisville, as you know, the most professional interpreters is because you know you have to provide great customer service to the requesters who are calling you, needing to schedule, to have those relationships and those customers to keep coming back and requesting from you over and over again. So you know the agency that that you might choose to work with. You know how many appointments are they doing on site. How many appointments are they doing. Do they offer virtual or remote services? You know can you, are you eligible for for providing both?
Speaker 2:You know with that agency what languages do they need. For example, we have a really large Cuban population here in the Louisville area. So that is by far the demand. That is, you know, or the language that's requested the most. Consequently, that's the. You know we have a ton of Spanish speaking interpreters, but only the very best Spanish speaking interpreters, because everybody deserves a great interpreter there. You know there's so many Spanish speakers here that do it well and folks who have been with us forever who do it well. You know they're the ones who are going to get the jobs that. You know, the ones who are, you know, in it with us, so to speak. You know playing with team. So when, when our interpreters are working in the community, they're representing the agency. They're also representing each other. I will guarantee you that the doctor's office who called me to schedule this interpreter they're not going to remember that interpreter's name, but they are going to remember Catholic Charity Center, absolutely Okay.
Speaker 2:The experience right Exactly so you know, we try to make sure that that is a great experience every time right, and that is helping us to keep you and helping us to keep work coming in for everyone.
Speaker 1:I make sense. No, totally. I really appreciate the fact that you just made mention. You know you're not just representing yourself. You know they may not even remember you as your name when you're coming in as an individual, but they, they, they think about it as as a whole profession. Right, so working with interpreters should be like this and so that way, when every, no matter who walks in, the expectation for the level of service that's going to be offered is high, because they know that they're working with trained interpreters, you know as a whole and that's how they recognize that, recognize us, them meaning the individuals that we are working with recognize us as a profession.
Speaker 1:It's not just an individual. Any individual can do it. It's somebody that's been trained, that has the experience and that understands. You know the complexities of navigating both both languages, or you know languages in general. So I appreciate that you said that, because it's true, this is something that we mentioned. Even when we go out when I go out into, let's say, school districts and where everyone's kind of doing their own thing, and it's like we're going to unite as a unit within the school districts to provide these services and we need to operate as a unit. We need to be consistent in the way in which we're providing the services, which is why the training is very important, exactly.
Speaker 2:And and interpreters know, when it comes to this as a profession, it's a little bit the wild west, I mean, because there are different requirements and expectations no matter where you go. So that is really a key thing for us and for a lot of our partners. Yeah, building these programs is to make sure that we're establishing you know, these are the rules, and that is going to benefit a contractor, an interpreter, moving forward when they work with another agency or another group or something like that. Yeah, they'll have this, this, this experience of working with an agency that really is trying to to set the rules, set the standards and setting them high.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's why I like that you're even sharing what they should be looking out for, particularly the reputable piece, right?
Speaker 1:So you want to make sure that this is a reputable company, that they didn't just begin, you know, just start sending out I don't know you to requests because they don't have. You know, because they said that they have languages and that they don't really. They're not an established, maybe, agency. Maybe they will become one day, but, you know, potentially that's not somebody that you may want to start working with. Maybe, you know, they haven't been around for a long time, I don't know. But I think the reputable piece is very important because, as you mentioned, you know that you're going to be taking care of you don't have to worry about chasing your invoices or, you know, getting paid or any of that stuff, right, you don't have to worry about that when you're just, when you're just starting. You want to make sure that you're working with someone that that understands the needs of the interpreter and, of course, that it's going to take care of those back end things that you know you may not want or be interested in doing as a solo pre-noor or something of the sort.
Speaker 2:Right, right, so it allows you when you work with an agency. It allows you to step in and out of contract work. This way, you know, at your, at your leisure, you know, if you wanted to work full time doing something else, if you're working with an agency like Catholic Charities, you're. You have access to our scheduling portal. You can log in and select the appointments that you want and will work for your schedule. So you know we're that again, as I said, we're trying to honor that person's dignity as a professional and make sure that we're providing that kind of support to them. A lot, of, a lot of the things that you really need when you're starting your own business. You don't, I mean especially if you don't have a business background you go oh, I can, I can interpret me and three friends, we all speak the same language. So we're going to form this group and we're going to provide this. Oh, that's wonderful, unless you're charging for it.
Speaker 1:And then you know, yeah, then it gets complicated, exactly.
Speaker 2:You know who's going to, who's going to collect payments, who's going to run down people who haven't paid, and I'm sorry I'm saying this from a very business. You know perspective. You may make less working for an agency the hourly rate but when you don't have to go out and buy your own air and emission insurance, or you know figure out how to process your own payments, collect money that you're owed, hey taxes, hey taxes. That's one thing that we are always watching for compliance. We have our lists. You have to have all these things and if you don't, you're not in compliance, you can't take appointments with us. So there's four hours of continuing education requirements for our interpreters every year professional development. We're not providing it for them, but we are sharing free resources.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's important too. Yes, to make the connections with the resources that are already out there. Exactly, go out there and continue their professional growth and expanding.
Speaker 2:But if you're on your own. You don't have that benefit. You're on your own, Exactly.
Speaker 1:And you're having to navigate, like it's just that we hear it all the time, but there's so many resources out there. There's a ton of resources out there, but it's kind of like when you walk into a store and you've got a zillion options of the same thing, you still can't make up your mind. Which one do I go for? Which one is the best? How do I know that this is a good product? You know? So it's the same idea when you're first starting there. Yes, there are a lot of resources, but unless somebody recommends or says, hey, try this, or, you know, try this agency, or maybe begin here, then you do feel overwhelmed by the options that are out there. So when institutions or agencies centralize the resources.
Speaker 1:I feel like it's like there's a little bit of clarity at least on where to begin and then, as you navigate the industry, you learn, you know you take what you would like and then leave out what you don't Right.
Speaker 2:Exactly, exactly, and I think providing those choices is what makes us so unique in this industry. It's important to know if the agency you're working for is a nonprofit or if they're for-profit and have stockholders to report to. It's also important to know if the agency that you're working with operates in multiple states, and the reason I say that is because that could make the difference as to whether you're referred to as an independent contractor or an employee. Oh, wow, okay, that's a good one. There are two different. There's different sets of rules that govern the status. You know that each of those types of employment, so you'll want to ask questions about how that organization is structured. If they are paying you as a contractor, you have to. You know you have to take care of your taxes on your own. As an employee, you probably have the option to have taxes withheld. Okay, these are little subtle differences, but things to consider, yeah and important right?
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're subtle, but they can absolutely have an impact, particularly at the end of the year. What a sign of paying taxes Exactly. I know that we've shared a lot of resources for individuals, particularly those that are first starting, which is, you know, I think, all it's always important, especially if you're trying to sort of get your foot in the door and out in the communities. Hopefully you have a Catholic Charities, maybe nonprofit, like out they do out in Louisville, but it gives you ideas as to where you can even begin, right? Yes, what Alisa is offering, at least ideas as to where you could begin and especially the questions that you should be asking before you decide to join and provide your services with this agency. What other things can you think of that you would recommend to just, you know, independent contractors that are out there trying to establish their, maybe their reputation, or just establish their career in the industry? What else can you think of to share with them?
Speaker 2:Listen to professionals, listen to the people who are around you, watch, listen, you know, pay attention. I would, I would encourage self-care to every interpreter. It's you know we joke about being a fly on the wall and getting to be, you know, privy to all of these different types of conversations and the industries and the different stuff that you all get to see. I mean that is the cool part, but there is this really gross underpart where you have to hear about child abuse, you know, neglect, all sorts of things that really can weigh heavily on your mind and on your heart. You know, and it's important not to carry that around with you.
Speaker 2:I don't know, maybe after some time you can become a little bit desensitized to it, but sometimes there are things that hang around you know, things that you just can't get out of your mind. So don't, don't overlook your need to take care of yourself and and you know, do what you you need to do. Take the time that you need to take to make sure that you are doing the best job that you can possibly do. Like I said, everybody deserves a good interpreter For sure.
Speaker 1:No, and I'm happy that you even mentioned, you know, the topic of self-care, because I think and now we're seeing it more and more, I think individuals are opening up more to this topic, that it plays a very important role in the life of interpreters, and if it if it doesn't, or you think that you know it hasn't been potentially an important topic, then maybe it's something that you should look into, because of what you said just now, that we may not think it's it's necessarily until it suddenly becomes necessary, right, and by then now we've got to be now reactive as opposed to proactive, and making sure that we're including strategies that are going to support us with our mental health and just overall health in terms of after an assignment or something of the sort.
Speaker 1:And, and begin with, I've had a lot of conversations, by the way, lisa, with several guests with regards to this particular topic, from all kinds of different angles, and I like the recommendation that was once made, which was begin with your with the agency itself and finding out what they offer for you as an interpreter. Right, being able to start there and then branching out to potentially, maybe peer groups or something of the sort, maybe during conferences or just being able to talk about, you know, the encounter that you had and your feelings, and all of that to release it.
Speaker 1:So that's a great point.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, and you don't have to give away someone's personal details or break any confidentiality rules to be able to have those discussions. That it's a very important topic to me. I think it's essential for preventing, you know, burnout completely in this type of work. I'm not a person who hasn't been touched by mental health issues, you know. I scarcely know anyone who can say that, but it's so important to me.
Speaker 2:I wanted to make sure that our interpreters you know many of the, you know, if they have a full-time job somewhere else, they probably have insurance that will provide that. If they don't and it's none of my business, but if they don't, I still want them to be able to access it. So my program does something that's a little weird, but maybe some others you know because you don't really provide benefits for your contractors. But if you're smart, you can work out. You know some cool ways to support them, and so we have an agreement with one of our local universities, with the Behavioral Health Clinic. They provide a number for us and our interpreters are able to call the crisis line if they need to talk about something specific. We just trade off services. So when they need an interpreter, we don't charge them, and when I don't know who of our interpreters uses it, it doesn't. You know. I get a report saying how many people, but that's all. If it's helping, I'm happy with that, you know.
Speaker 1:But it is utilized.
Speaker 2:It is utilized. Wow, and you know, mental health is viewed so differently across the board and for every different culture. Yes, so I don't know what is going to be the best thing to do for everyone, but for me, talk therapy has helped, yeah, and it's something that we could make available without much expense.
Speaker 1:So that's awesome. I love that. I'm rather a smile to my face being glad the box, like you said, being able to provide the resource for your interpreters because, like you said, sometimes for one interpreter if I get up and walk outside and you know, just sort of shake it off, that might work. You know, walk in nature, being surrounded by, you know, fresh air and all that stuff that might work for me to release it, but for another interpreter it may be the talk therapy that is good in order to be able to talk out. You know that particular assignment and the feelings, and I mean it's just. But having the option at least, particularly for those that are independent contractors that don't have maybe the insurance, don't know where to go, it's easy to say I'll find out, you know, more information about something like that later, and then later never comes right Exactly.
Speaker 1:So that's, that's beautiful. I love that At least. That has been such a privilege and just an honor to be able to speak with you further about the language access services that are being provided out in Louisville, kentucky, through your direction and, of course, under the umbrella of Catholic charities in your particular community. I think it serves as a great example of how other nonprofit organizations are able to access, tap into the resources and the topic of language access and being able to provide this. I'm sure that there's plenty plenty of nonprofit organizations that have similar programs such as yours out there, but maybe individuals, independent contractors this is the first time that they hear about services such as what you offer.
Speaker 1:Maybe look into your local community and see how you're able to provide some support to be a contact person maybe even for your language or your working languages for this particular nonprofit organization, or even start the conversation, if even that right, yes, so I'm hoping that it serves a wide variety of individuals, maybe those that were even interested in starting a training program in their own organization. Whatever that may be, I'm just hoping, as always, that we were able to provide some further resources, ideas and inspiration. So I thank you so very much for the opportunity to have been here today and having shared your expertise, your knowledge and your resources. But before we go, where can our listeners find out more about you and the work that you do?
Speaker 2:We are at cclouorg forward slash language services.
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