Welcoming America announces financial support to local communities committed to improving translation and interpretation services in emergency management.
Casa de Salud Covid Testing. Photo courtesy of Casa de Salud.
Welcoming America, a non-profit, non-partisan organization that supports immigrants new to American communities, created the Resilient Rapid Response Initiative: an action awarding grants to communities to support immediate critical response needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization awarded the St. Louis Mosaic Project $14,000 in grant funds to support and create translation and interpretation aids in St. Louis.
Betsy Cohen, Executive Director of the St. Louis Mosaic Project, said the funds will be allocated to Casa de Salud, a healthcare resource for the foreign born community of metropolitan St. Louis, and Bi-State Development (BSD), a dynamic and multi-faceted resource for economic development and public transit in the St. Louis region.
“We are honored to receive this grant from such a renowned organization that prioritizes the quality of life of the foreign born,” said Cohen. “With these funds, we look forward to working with our community which needs trusted partners to share sensitive messages during this difficult time.”
The St. Louis Mosaic Project will work with BSD’s communications team to create a range of multilingual materials for public transportation riders with little English to help understand masks, new fare plans and changing bus routes. The St. Louis Mosaic Project and Casa de Salud will assist the community with health translations and “plain language” visuals for COVID-19 testing processes.
Learn more about the Resilient Rapid Response Initiative here.
