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!
---------------------

Connect with Alisa Pifine
languagecclou.org
https://www.facebook.com/CatholicCharitiesofLouisville
https://twitter.com/CC_Louisville
https://www.instagram.com/cclouisville/

Share your thoughts about this episode!

Thanks for tuning in, till next time! 👋

Connect with Mireya Pérez, Host
www.brandtheinterpreter.com
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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
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(00:48):
Hello and welcome to anotherepisode of the Brandy
Interpreter podcast.
This is Mireya, your host, andI'd like to thank you for
joining me here today.
Again, I know that it's been awhile since I've shown up
actually with a new episode, andthe reason for that is that
there has been a lot going on inthe background with regards to

(01:11):
just some personal things thatwere going on.
Mainly and the biggest pointthat 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 aborn and raised Californian and
have been there all my life,and just recently I moved to the

(01:31):
East Coast.
Oh my God, now I don't know howlong this move is going to last
.
I think the first winter mightreally determine it all.
Nevertheless, it is a temporarymove for the time being, but I
will be here for the next coupleof years and then maybe at some
point, hopefully, I will beback in sunny Southern

(01:53):
California, but for now, I amenjoying my time out here in
Virginia.
That's right, and fall isbeautiful so far out here, but I
am already cold.
I have to admit it Once againI'm born and raised in Southern
California and so I don't knowhow this is going to be, but
that is the reason why I've beenradio silent for a few weeks,

(02:16):
and even for social media, it'sbeen hard to be able to keep up
with it all.
So, either way, I'm happy thatyou're here and I'm happy that I
am back and established enoughfor me to be able to push out
episodes on the podcast, because, at the end of the day, this is
what I enjoy doing.

(02:36):
I very much enjoy havingconversations with individuals,
learning more about them,learning more about language
access, learning about theindustry and just the very many
ways in which these services areoffered, not just by the
individuals that provide theservices meaning the
interpreters and translators,but also by the individuals that

(02:59):
have oversight of theseprograms and in the different
entities that these services arebeing offered.
So I enjoy this and then, ofcourse, I enjoy sharing the
information with you all, inhopes that you're able to obtain
some information, inspiration,motivation whatever TION word

(03:20):
you want to insert in therewhich is, in fact, what Brand
the Interpreter was alwayscreated for to be able to offer
these stories and offer theinformation and have it readily
available to share out with theindustry, with folks such as
yourselves that continue to comeback to listen to the stories

(03:42):
of other professionals out inthe field.
So thank you once again foralways supporting this podcast.
Thank you for your support onsocial media.
I felt the love when I postedthis last post on Instagram.
Just thank you so much foracknowledging that you do follow

(04:03):
and support the content that Ipush out.
It means a lot and, of course,it absolutely motivates me to
keep showing up and keep sharingcontent.
So let's get into today'sepisode.
On today's Brand the Interpreterepisode, I have the pleasure of
speaking with Alisa Pofini, adirector of language services

(04:24):
for a non-profit organizationcalled Catholic Charities out in
Louisville, kentucky.
Early on in her career, alisarecognized the societal divide
caused by language barriers.
She noticed how such barriersisolated individuals within her
community, sparking a lifelongdedication to breaking these

(04:45):
cultural walls.
And today Alisa shares with usher journey from a credit union
in Louisville, kentucky, to arole in language access working
with a non-profit organization.
So, without further ado, pleasehelp me welcome Alisa Pofini to
the show.
Alisa, welcome to the show.

(05:08):
Thank you so much for beinghere today.
It is a privilege to be able tohave the opportunity to share
your story.
How are you?
I'm well.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
Thank you so much for having me Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (05:19):
I'm excited to get down into today's conversation
and, like I said, just beingable to share everything that
you're doing currently in theworld of language access with
interpreting and translatingservices.
But before we do all that, ofcourse this audience knows that
first we get to know the person.

(05:39):
So tell us a little bit, Alisa,about where you grew up and
what a fond childhood memory ofyours is.

Speaker 2 (05:47):
Okay, well, I am a lifetime Louisvillian.
I was born and raised here inLouisville, kentucky.
A cradle Catholic, so to speak,lived here my whole life and
it's been just amazing and I'msure we can get into more of
this a little later but to watchthe diversity of our city just

(06:09):
kind of grow over the years,it's been really a privilege to
see.
As far as childhood memories andthis is silly, but I can
remember my parents taking me toa football game I think it must
have had to have been a highschool football game, because we
don't have any proteins here inLouisville but I can remember

(06:30):
as a really small child I musthave gotten separated from my
parents and the people sittingin the bleachers picked me up
and passed me up row by row tomy parents who were at the top
of the bleachers, and I justthat's a memory that has stuck
with me all this time.
You know I'm not a young personanymore, so but I just I

(06:52):
remember, I can still rememberall of the different faces of
each person that you know took ahold of me to pass me to the
next person, and in my mind Iremember that as this hug from
each individual person.
I don't know.
I guess that's just kind ofclung with me forever.

Speaker 1 (07:11):
Beautiful it mentions the site nowadays.
For someone to have recordedthat in upload, you would have
been viral, alisa, maybe.

Speaker 2 (07:19):
Or my parents would have gotten arrested for getting
separated from me.

Speaker 1 (07:23):
Yeah, good point Are my, especially with nowadays.
Yeah, everything Exactly Goeither way, right?
Oh, that's so great.
You mentioned the diversityaspect currently in Louisville.
Talk to us about when, when youwere growing up, what, what
that was like for you.
Did you grow up in amultilingual household,

(07:43):
monolingual household?
And then you know what was itlike then compared to now, as
you mentioned diversity, sure.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
You know, no, I did not grow up in a bilingual home.
My parents, you know, were veryjust, I guess, average, normal
people.
My mother grew up on a farm.
My dad was a local.
You know Louisville was justkind of a.
This was, you know, early 70s.
Louisville was kind of a smallsleepy town, but the efforts of

(08:15):
Catholic charities reallystarted to ramp up in the way of
refugee resettlement and aboutthe mid to late 80s here and so
Louisville started to experiencethis cultural explosion as
folks started to arrive and maketheir homes here, and that was
right about the time that I was,you know, 16, 17 years old, so

(08:36):
I was coming of age around thattime and I was watching.
It's really been so very coolfrom that time to now where, you
know, almost 10% ofLouisville's population is
foreign born.
So you know, that's what, fromthe mid 80s to now, that's kind
of a short time to have thatmuch growth and to have the

(09:00):
diversity of so many differentcultures and countries
represented here.
It's amazing.

Speaker 1 (09:06):
Yeah.
So what has it been like interms of when, once you started,
you know, getting into theprofessional world, meaning you
start your career and startworking, eventually leading you
to?
You mentioned just now Catholiccharities.
But before we get that to that,how did you begin to see the

(09:27):
need of these particularcommunities and what were
perhaps your surroundings likein being able to fulfill those
needs?
So what were you sort of seeingor observing?

Speaker 2 (09:42):
At that time, I think , I don't know that I felt as if
I was a person who wasqualified to provide anything.
But I did notice, you know,when I would see people in the
store or, you know, out andabout there was, I'd noticed
pretty quickly that there wasthis language gap, that and that

(10:04):
was present, and it was prettyobvious that those folks were
more isolated.
It felt to me that they wereisolated because of that.
It felt to me that we, as thenatives or locals, had set them
apart because of the languagedifference.

Speaker 1 (10:23):
Wow, yeah, that's pretty powerful and it hurt,
yeah yeah, but being able tosort of see that sort of like an
outside lens but at the sametime, you are, this is your
community, you're seeing it grow, you're seeing the diversity
come through, but being able torecognize that there is a
challenge and the fact thatyou've identified it was, you
know, most importantly thelanguage aspect challenge that

(10:46):
felt like they were, like youmentioned just now, sort of
isolated in their own pockets.
Right, potentially, talk to mea little bit about you know,
with regards to just yourinvolvement, eventually, in the
language access aspect, how didyou begin that journey of being

(11:06):
able to even become a part ofwell, in this case being the
solution, but eventually thatyou know that that was later on
down the path.
How did you begin in this path?

Speaker 2 (11:17):
Well, I think you know, as I said, I've not had
formal training for this type ofwork and so I've always known I
wanted to be a nurse as a kidand I've always known that.
You know, I had that drive towant to be involved with helping
a situation.
And when I finished school, myfirst job, very first job, was

(11:41):
in a really small credit unionhere in Louisville.
And if you don't know a lotabout credit unions, they're
member owned, first of all.
They're also not-for-profitorganizations and so folks who
have a common bond for example,their employment or where they
live or where they go to churchwhen you have a common bond, all
these people they get together,they pool their money.

(12:03):
The ones who need to borrow canborrow.
The ones who need to save get abetter you know return on their
investment for savings.
So this is a cooperative, afinancial cooperative that comes
together.
And when I first entered creditunions it was again we were
really small operations andactually I became part of that

(12:27):
movement.
It was incredible.
We were encouraged to becomeactivists, you know, always
working to keep credit unionstax-free, with their tax exempt
organizations, just like anyother nonprofit would be, and
there was always this conflict.
It was like banks and creditunions, banks and credit unions.

(12:48):
So we were the champions forthe credit unions and we really
a lot of our efforts paid off,because now when you look at
credit unions and banks side byside, it's really hard to tell
the difference.
You know if you're not someonethat's in that industry.
But at the time we felt like wewere being people's champions.
But and I got to be verypassionate about people who seem

(13:09):
to be underserved for whateverreason they couldn't get a
checking account at Chase.
I don't even remember what thereasons were at that time, but
they obviously needed financialservices.
Someone needed to be able toprovide that for them.
You have people that maybecouldn't get approved for a loan
anywhere else, but they go totheir credit union where people
know them and there's more ofthat.

(13:31):
You know personal commitmentand you know the people that
you're borrowing from.
That you're all in the samegroup.
So that kind of is where Istarted.
You know, when it comes totrying to champion a cause or an
effort and work, I mean, thewhole slogan for credit unions
were people helping people, andit was really, really easy to

(13:52):
get behind that movement.

Speaker 1 (13:54):
Now, for those of us that are geographically
challenged, give us an idea ofwhere exactly Louisville,
kentucky, is on the map.
Let's say, for those that arelike listening and trying to
identify where it is, and then,what are your surrounding areas?
Just so that we can get avisual.

Speaker 2 (14:14):
Well, we're landlocked.
Kentucky is Louisville is.
It's a weird place.
We're not exactly south butmost of the time we consider
ourselves southerners.
We're right on the border withIndiana.
Kentucky shares a border withIndiana, ohio, missouri I'm
trying to think of now I'mshowing off my bad geography but

(14:37):
we're in the Midwest, basicallyTennessee to our south, indiana
to our north.
It's kind of just a quiet,unassuming area.
I mean, we love our collegeteams no pro teams here, for
sure.

Speaker 1 (14:51):
I don't know why that is, but that's so interesting
because, yeah, I'm alwaysthinking for those that don't
know.
I just recently moved to theEast Coast and so I'm always
thinking where am I on the map?
And so whenever I do bring upthe map and I see how far away I

(15:14):
am from home, I'm like holy cow.

Speaker 2 (15:17):
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 thegeographic shape of the land and
mountains or valley areas, it'sreally easy to understand how
things evolved and what physicalbarriers were there.

Speaker 1 (15:35):
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 owncountry, imagining individuals
that are coming from acompletely different country and
seeing where they land per se,where they end up, how far away

(16:01):
that must seem for them, becauseyou just mentioned refugees and
resettlement and all of thatstuff that goes with potentially
just I don't want to saynecessarily traumatic, but it's
just a big event for families,for individuals.
So, that's why the mention ofjust where on the map,

(16:26):
potentially right now notpotentially, but right now we
could find Louisville, kentucky,just to get a visual of that.
So talk to us then.
Elisa, you mentioned right atthe beginning Catholic Charities
.
Let's get into how you end upactually doing the work in just

(16:47):
community involvement andcommunity support and what
exactly led you down this path,and then we'll get into all of
the things that you're doingcurrently.
So let's get into how you endup with Catholic Charities and
why Catholic Charities.

Speaker 2 (17:06):
Well, that is actually a very funny story.
I was really getting thefeeling that my time at the
credit union was done.
I had done what I could do.
I really needed to move on toanother challenge and, without
my knowledge, a friend of mine,who's freezed he, had seen this
position open with CatholicCharities.
They were looking for someonewho had some marketing

(17:29):
background and could help themwith expanding into the
Lexington market.
At that time we were reallytrying to work together with
Lexington to provide a morecomprehensive language access
program, more on a statewidelevel, and there's a lot.
Louisville and Lexington arekind of like the hubs, right?

(17:51):
I mean, yes, there's otherplaces in Kentucky, but those
are the big cities and so, likeI said, I didn't know that this
friend of mine had forwarded myresume.
So when I got a call, I came inand talked and I remember at
that time my boss said to me soI know you've read the job
description, tell us how youthink that your skills will

(18:14):
benefit us and what we need here.
And I hadn't read the jobdescription because I didn't
know my resume had beensubmitted and there was no
option.
I knew that I was dealing withpeople who would see right
through it, and so I had nochoice but to fall on my sword
and say I'm sorry, I'm busted.

(18:35):
I didn't read the jobdescription, but I was able to
catch up pretty quickly andexplain how I thought I could be
of help with achieving thoseexpansion goals.
Anyway, I remember leaving myinterview thinking, oh my gosh,
I couldn't have bombed any worsethan I did.

(18:56):
But I got a call on the wayhome.
So I guess stranger things havehappened.
But not long after I startedwith Catholic Charities, the
program director in languageservices decided that she was
going to be moving on to anotheropportunity and the position
came open and was offered to meand I thought, wow, I don't have

(19:21):
a background in language access.
My Spanish is good enough toget me arrested, so what do they
see here?
But I do come with a marketingand business background,
business development background.
That's what I have always done.
That was why credit unions weresuch a great fit for me.
I feel like I could sell a combto a bald man.
You know what I mean.

(19:42):
And credit unions worked.
I believed in the movement andit was easy for me to go out and
talk to people about thebenefits of becoming a credit
union member.
So I just you know, the more Ilearned about language access,
the more I learned about refugee, resettlement and my gosh just
all of the things that areinvolved in that.
I knew this was where I wascalled to be, I mean, and I have

(20:06):
been here since 2017.
And I don't want to go anywhere.
This is where I'm at this iswhere I belong.

Speaker 1 (20:13):
Alisa, you mentioned, you know, the work in the
credit union and those effortsand the observations that you
were able to make of thecommunity members that were in
need of these particularservices.
But I think that we could allagree that the work or who you
work with in bankinginstitutions, as opposed to the

(20:37):
community or the institutionsthat service communities, is
like, you know, day and night,right?
Yes, what were some of thethings that you began to
immediately see with?
Working with, you know, with anorgan?
Is it a nonprofit CatholicCharity?
As a nonprofit, yes, yes,working, yeah, from a, from you

(20:59):
know, with the nonprofitorganization who is basically
boots on the ground trying toprovide services that are going
to support such just sensitiveissues at times.
Right, what was that like foryou?

Speaker 2 (21:16):
Well, that's actually it's a great question and it's
a really important part of ourfaith.
You know, we serve peopleregardless of their religion.
It doesn't.
You don't have to be Catholicto be a client here.
You don't have to be Catholicto be an employee.
That's not a requirement.
But what you do have tounderstand is the Catholic
social teachings and ourresponsibility to take care of

(21:37):
one another.
Okay, catholics believe inserving one another, and that
just became it.
This has just been the perfectfit for me.
You know, I understand business, I understand how how to make a
business operate smoothly, butI've always been, I've always
had a big heart, and so for me,someone who's profit driven that

(21:59):
part really doesn't work for me, but everything else does.
And so I'm this weird creaturethat kind of fits with this,
this mold.
You know it's, it's like I wasmade for it or something.

Speaker 1 (22:11):
And the communities that you were serving.
How, what, what did you beginto see that that differed from,
potentially, the communitiesthat you were working with?
You know, in your we'll call itpast life, with the, with bank?

Speaker 2 (22:24):
Honestly, that was the first thing I saw.
That was the first thing I wasable to identify.
When someone arrives, I meanthey've got a lot of stuff to
take care of.
You know, when they firstarrive in this country, you've
got to get your childrenregistered for school, there's
health examinations, there'ssigning up for oh my gosh, you
know all the things that you,all the things that we take for

(22:46):
granted when you get a job, whenyou're 16, and you got your
driver's license or, you know,ordered your social security
card.
I mean that is a lot to handleall at once and if you don't
speak the language you know, itmakes it that much harder yet
there was something establishedthere, because you said that the
program Director with the titlewas yes, moved on to other
things.

Speaker 1 (23:07):
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 thetopic of language Access?
What was something, or a coupleof things, that you felt I
didn't know this before andInteresting how that applies to
the communities, or or somethingthat you may recall.

Speaker 2 (23:29):
Well, I can definitely.
I'm sure there are Probablyearlier things that I noticed,
but a couple of years ago we hadthe, you know, the opportunity
to work on a federal projectwhere we had received federal
grant funds from the office forvictims of crime and we did a
project that was geared towardimproving language access for

(23:52):
folks who Either don't speakEnglish as a first language or
part of the deaf or hard ofhearing community, and so Our
role in that was really aboutspoken language, and one of the
things that I learned fairlyearly on, you know, we were
providing interpreters withtraining.
If you've not worked withsomeone who's been the victim of

(24:12):
a crime or been victimized, youknow there may be things that
are going to come up that youdon't expect.
So we wanted interpreters to beable to be prepared for that.
You know, because oftentimeswhen you walk into the room as
an interpreter, everybody islooking at you to be the one you
know to run the meeting.
You're the boss, you're the onethat everybody looks to you for
answers, and so you know, wetry really hard to prepare our

(24:36):
interpreters for things.
And one thing I realized, andthis is it makes.
It makes perfect sense.
I never thought of it if acrime victim has to go to court
and Face their attacker, ifthey're using an interpreter and
their you know attacker is aswell, they're going to be using
the same interpreter.
That makes total sense becauseobviously the interpreter is

(24:59):
there as, as you know, as afunction of the court, they're
non-biased.
They're there, you know, toperform that task of relink.
You know the message from thewitnesses.
You know I'm probably not sayingall this, right, as a neutral
party.
Yes, they're totally, totallyneutral.
Right, you know, a lot of timesthose types of trials or

(25:20):
situations get superheated andyou know if those who have
interpreted in court settingscan probably think of times that
there's been uncomfortableIncidences or things that have
come up.
But if you're not prepared,especially if you've already
been told by your attorney thatyou know You've been prepped and
you've got to go in and you'vegot to tell the truth and this

(25:40):
is exactly what happened, andnow you're working with the same
interpreter, it almost can feellike a betrayal.
You know what I mean, becauseall along, all the people that
are working with you are reallythey're trying to accompany you,
they're working, walking withyou through this process and I
don't know that.
That to me, even though itmakes sense, it just seemed wow,

(26:03):
I never thought about that.

Speaker 1 (26:04):
Yeah, yeah, and that's just like one great
example of the importance ofhaving trained interpreters in
Encounters such as such as thisone, because no one that's
bilingual would you know, thinkabout.
Many of these aspects that aretaught are elements that are
taught during training, as as aninterpreter training.

(26:27):
So you know, just becauseyou're bilingual Doesn't
necessarily mean that you'regonna think about all these
things, right, I'll be you.
You may feel more inclinedtowards the victim as opposed to
the perpetrator or something ofthe sort, right?
So I could see how that candefinitely be a Difficulty or
something that stood out to you,maybe even eventually, as you

(26:49):
started your work with CatholicCharities.
I wanted to sort of come back tothis topic of Catholic
Charities.
So, for those individuals thatare hearing Catholic Charities
for the first time and don'treally or aren't really familiar
With with Catholic Charitiesand what they service and how

(27:11):
it's involving your particularcase with language access,
because and I say this as, asyou know, just someone that has
Encountered Catholic Charitiesas an entity in a community and
you know it had a presence in avery rural community when I was
growing up as a kid, butlanguage access services was not

(27:34):
a part of what the servicesthat they offered, and so it
differs, it looks like, rightdepending on the demographics
and the need, I imagine, on allsorts of things.
So so walk us through sort ofjust just a general idea of what
Catholic Charities is, and, inthis particular case, the one

(27:54):
out in Louisville, kentucky,sure what it, what it provides,
what type of services it'sproviding, so that individuals
could sort of understand,because it sounds like we're
talking about a language serviceagency, but then we keep
mentioning Catholic Charities.
Yes, so that we can paint aclearer picture, if you will,
sure of course.

Speaker 2 (28:12):
So there's this old saying that if you've seen one
Catholic Charities, you've seenone Catholic Charities, and
that's because Each CatholicCharities that's located
throughout the country isserving a unique population, so
their services are going to beunique.
Now Catholic Charitiesfunctions as the Service arm,

(28:33):
the social service arm of theCatholic Church All of the
things that we believe asCatholics when it comes to
serving others, that this iswhere the rubber meets the road,
right, like you said, boots onthe ground.
So you know this is not.
You know this is putting ourfaith into action.
This is what we do all the timewhen it comes to refugee

(28:55):
resettlement.
This is all part of welcomingthe stranger and Assisting
people, you know, at their timeof need.
Out of that work that work withrefugee resettlement, oh, you
know, helping people to kind ofget acclimated to their new
surroundings it became prettyobvious for us very early on
that language was going to be anissue, and so, you know, people

(29:18):
start getting asked to helpinterpret as they can, and Our
language access program justnaturally evolved out of that
need.
It allowed us to pay people toemploy them almost immediately
when they arrive, you know,providing them with the dignity
of work, respecting theirschedules, so that they can do
the things that they need to dowith their families and they can

(29:40):
work around those needs.
Oftentimes, refugees have totake really low-paying jobs that
they're overqualified for, justbecause they have to meet with
that employment requirementwithin I believe it's night
Don't quote me, I'm not animmigration specialist but I
believe it's within 90 days.
And that's a busy, that's areally busy 90 days, as we

(30:01):
talked about earlier.
But Allowing folks providingthe training you know to work as
an interpreter, it really Ithink it Respects them as a
human respect, respects theirlevel of intelligence and the
skills they have.
You know it's not easy to bebilingual.
It isn't some people.

(30:23):
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 thatpeople who only spoke one
language were all calledAmericans.

Speaker 1 (30:38):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (30:40):
Well, when you think about it, it's true, it became
pretty, pretty obvious thatearly on that language was going
to be an ongoing need, not onlyfor the work that we do within
the organization but for all ofour local partners that we work
with.
You know our hospitals, doctors, schools, attorneys, court
system.
You know large employers, youknow who else?

(31:01):
All of these people touch thelives of Refugees in one way or
another.
All these organizations, youknow refugees.
They have the right to be ableto access these services and
communicate clearly.
So that was pretty easy tofigure out and the language
access program just kind of grewup all around that.

Speaker 1 (31:22):
So, okay, community Settings that you just mentioned
, all sorts of you know rightcommunity programs and services
that Individuals are trying toaccess and being able to do that
through trained interpretersand working with trained
interpreters.
And speaking of training, it'snot only that your specific

(31:46):
Catholic charities is offeringlanguage services to the
community Institutions or thecommunity settings, you're also
providing the training that'snecessary to prepare You're
bilingual individuals that arepart of the programs before they
even go out there.
So we're talking about thatearlier.
Talk to us a little bit moreabout what particular program

(32:09):
You're utilizing and you knowhow that came to.

Speaker 2 (32:12):
Be basically, sure, so we have been licensed to
offer bridging the gap medicalinterpreter training since 2007.
We hold a level two license, sowe can, you know, we're allowed
to train people that are in ourlocal vicinity believe that's
Pretty much going to cover here,louisville, in Lexington.
But since COVID those ruleshave kind of been changed and

(32:37):
we've, you know, more agenciesare able to offer that training
online now.
So we offered in a number ofdifferent ways.
In addition to that, werecently have a trainer who has
gotten certified to provideBridging the gap in mental
health, which is a 24-houraddendum for bridging the gap.

(32:59):
The two programs do Differ justslightly.
If you've worked in mentalhealth settings, you know that
you do need to.
It's not exactly consecutiveinterpreting, but not exactly
Simultaneous either.
You just have to be a littlequicker on the that.
Consecutive, yes, but yes,consecutive exactly.
In addition to that, oh my gosh, we're constantly looking for,

(33:25):
you know, I mean this is as theprogram 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 togive CEUs right, but we do find
training that's helpful to themand free things that are going
to make them a betterinterpreter, you know, a better

(33:46):
advocate for someone who speakslimited English and Better
representative of the agency.

Speaker 1 (33:53):
Yeah, I we.
When we talked earlierPre-recording, I had mentioned
the fact that it's like you'recreating Catholic charities in
this community is creating sortof like its own ecosystem of
language access services, right,you're bringing in the people,
are coming to Catholic charitiesfor Support and resources.

(34:15):
Oftentimes these are refugeeand resettlement individuals and
then they're receiving trainingto be able to provide the
services to Potentially the nextwave of individuals that might
need the support and sobasically creating its own
ecosystem of training languageservices, correct?

Speaker 2 (34:38):
Yes, and I realize you know, obviously there is
National certification forseveral languages, but here in
Louisville we have severallanguages that are needed that
you can't get nationalcertification for, and and so we
kind of use the model thatthose national certification

(34:59):
bodies, we use the same model totry to provide the interpreter
with all of the samequalifications and requirements.
You know that the ongoingtraining requirements, language
proficiency exams we work withnational partners on that level
to make sure that ourinterpreters, just because we
can't provide that nationalcertification or help, you know

(35:22):
do that.
We are trying to tick all ofthose boxes to make sure that if
they want to move on or if thatever becomes available in their
languages, that they're able todo that relatively, you know,
without too much trouble andit's a way of, you know,
managing a person's expenses toget into this.
You know, when you go into anykind of contract work like this,

(35:45):
you know there's going to be alot of upfront costs and so you
know we try to manage that.
You know obviously there needsto be some buy-in right, but we
do try to manage that forinterpreters who are coming on
board with us or wanting toconsider this as a profession.

Speaker 1 (36:03):
I often think about when institutions or agencies or
entities that you know whateverwe want to name them in
community settings are in needof language access services for
their own demographics.
I'm specifically thinking abouteducation, right?
So school districts that are inneed of trained interpreters

(36:30):
that they may not necessarilyhave in-house or potentially for
languages of lesser diffusion,and they don't necessarily have,
like, an established languageaccess plan, even though that
would be the ideal right?
No, so they don't necessarilyknow where to go for language
access services other thanasking untrained bilingual staff

(36:51):
that happen to speak thelanguage for support.
What would your recommendationbe for these institutions to be
able to branch out and work withlocal nonprofit organizations
to sort of create their ownecosystem of individuals that
can support with this specifictopic?
I realize that CatholicCharities is different in its

(37:16):
own, different locationdemographics, but maybe it could
be other nonprofitorganizations that understand
the community and thedemographics potentially a
little bit better than a schooldistrict may with regards to
language and the differentlanguages that they serve.
What would you recommend fromthat angle?

Speaker 2 (37:37):
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 ofreally understanding the needs
of the folks in your communitywho are going to need that
support.
I can really only speak to thisfrom through the lens of

(37:57):
language access, but I didmention that culture was was an
incredibly big part of that.
Understanding your communityand what they need and just
reaching out to someone.
Like you know, they don't haveto be local to reach out and ask
a question, right, and so it'snot a problem.
I don't mind at all to have aphone call and somebody say you
know, we're trying to start alanguage access program here.

(38:20):
Where do we get started?
What do we do?
How do we?
How do we start out with that?
And really relying on otherprofessionals in the industry,
people who who already know whatthis is, I have yet to.
There's people of all kinds,but I've yet to find an
interpreter who wasn't, whowasn't willing to answer a
question of mine or be willingto, you know, work with me or

(38:42):
share a story about somethingthat was important to them.
So you know, even if you'rejust asking an individual
interpreter.
They're going to share theagencies that they're working
with with you.
That's going to be a placewhere you can start and reach
out and say how do you alladminister this?
You know.

Speaker 1 (38:58):
Yeah, I think I, I feel like it's important for
particularly community settings.
I know that those that areworking directly with the
community you know as likethat's the sole purpose
understand potentially thecommunity, the language
demographics, just the languagediversity that may exist

(39:21):
compared to perhaps again I goback to the educational
institution so school districtswho potentially may be asking
what other languages are spokenat home, but who don't
necessarily have the resourcesto support or follow up on that
question, right, it's just foridentification and reporting

(39:45):
purposes.
So I'm always thinking of theseinstitutions that may not even
necessarily be thinking, hey,let's reach out to our local
nonprofit, who does have thatresponsibility of working
directly with our community, sothat we can get a better
understanding of who it is we'reserving and how we can

(40:05):
potentially work together tobetter serve.
Because in your particular case, alisa, I'm thinking maybe,
like, the local school districtis contacting Catholic charities
to support them with theirlanguage access services,
whereas to maybe anadministrator from a local
school district that may belistening to us hadn't even
thought about reaching out to alocal nonprofit, right?

(40:28):
So that's what.
I'm thinking, yeah, how is itthat we could make that
connection in communities sothat they are reaching out to
their local nonprofits that areworking or have potentially a
better understanding?
I'm also thinking about thesituation out, or one of the
situations out, in the state ofWashington in which the local, a

(40:50):
local nonprofit, was taskedwith basically coming up with a
report, doing an analysis andreport of the language needs
that were needed in the localcommunity, but very specifically
for public services.
So there are programs andservices, so it was tied
together, but it was led by anonprofit organization on in the

(41:14):
that was well established inthe community.
So that's why I was bringingthat up?

Speaker 2 (41:18):
Sure, and I'll tell you we have an excellent
relationship with our localschool district.
We work together on a lot ofthings.
Actually we're, because we havesuch a large foreign born
population here in a large LEPcommunity.
Our schools, our schooldistrict here locally, is a
really resourceful partner forus.

(41:39):
You have to register your childfor school, right.
Even if you don't put them inschool, you have to at least say
, hey, I'm homeschooling and,you know, provide information
that way.
But our local school districtis probably the best resource
that I can think of when itcomes to needing kind of a map
or a landscape of the languagesthat are spoken in your area.

(42:01):
You have to register your childfor school and these are
questions that are asked whenyou register.
So the school is going to havereally good data that can be
shared, because it's not, youknow, person specific.
But they can share this withyou so that you know, you can

(42:21):
have better information totailor services around and know
what to what to plan.
For Our local school districtthey have a language access
office that serves the wholecounty.
They try to hire for as manylanguages as they know that
they're going to need on anongoing basis.
We have gosh.

(42:43):
A lot of our contractinterpreters teach with the
school district, so you knowthat is is really closely
related and really helpfulinformation to us.
In addition to them sharingthat language data with us, you
know we have the good fortune ofbeing very closely connected

(43:03):
with the Kentucky Office forRefugees and they actually will
work with us so that we know,you know, how many families we
have arriving.
You know what, how manyindividuals 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 reallyhelpful data to us, exactly To

(43:31):
know what we need to beproviding now and what we need
to be planning for.

Speaker 1 (43:35):
Yeah, I'm just thinking also in terms of the
money that is that is given toour public schools.
A lot of the requirements areabout community partnerships and
, you know, being able to tocreate this community
partnerships with localcommunity businesses to be able

(43:58):
to sort of again I go back tothis word ecosystem.
You know, creating theseecosystems with partnerships
between their students,sometimes being able to even
align some of the services thatare offered in the local
community setting to individuals, maybe like the high school
students that are learninganother language, and being able
to make that connection right,those or even create new

(44:21):
programs.
But again, this is inconjunction with what is already
out there, established in thecommunity, and being able to
work together hand in hand, likethat.
I'm also thinking like, evenlike their bilingual staff that
are not trained, being able tosend them to you know places
like Catholic Charities toreceive the training you know,

(44:42):
have that collaboration, andthen being able to come back and
actually have bilingual trainedstaff for when it is needed,
maybe potentially right.
Just all sorts of differentstuff that support language
access.

Speaker 2 (44:54):
Absolutely Not.
Not only are we working withstaff in that way to train
bilingual staff that you knowwork as staff members or you
know part of the faculty youknow at our local schools, but
we're also working with studentsand guidance counselors as
students are graduating,especially students that were

(45:17):
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 maybefeel like they don't fit in and
then, when you pile on top ofthat, you have to make these
choices about college and whatdo you do.
And that's a lot to decide at ayoung age.

(45:38):
You know it is kind of unfair,but to see their abilities with
communication, if they can speakmultiple languages, starts to
show them that they can see thatas 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, youknow, travel all the time for
your job and go to exotic placesand to be a fly on the wall in

(46:03):
every conversation.
That is so cool.

Speaker 1 (46:07):
Yeah, it's.
Oh my gosh, don't get mestarted on that topic.
We've got, you know, we've gota whole, actually, episode on
Brandy interpreter, on acultivation versus assimilation
and just how individuals,particularly those of us that
grew up in bilingual households,we try to detach ourselves from

(46:28):
the language and the culturebecause we become ashamed,
because there's a saying inSpanish that it goes ni de aquí
ni de allá, which is basicallynot from here nor from there,
because we feel like we're inthis middle right, in this
middle section of I'm not fullythis and I'm not accepted as
fully this, but I'm also notfully that and I'm not accepted

(46:52):
as fully that.
So, you know, we try to, youknow, basically assimilate to
the culture that we are in, thatwe do want to connect with and
we want to release or let go ofanything that is not that.
And so for many high schoolstudents I feel, just teenagers,
just in general, right, they gothrough this process of sort of

(47:13):
wanting to detach themselvesfrom the language, run into the
touches themselves, maybe evenfrom the culture, and are, I
could say, speaking for myself,even ashamed.
You know, I was born and raisedin Los Angeles and even though I
was surrounded by many Spanishspeaking individuals,
particularly in the communitythat we grew up with.

(47:35):
In school it was English only.
Obviously right, it was.
My friends spoke English, myteachers spoke English.
Why do I need to speak Spanish?
For what?
You know, what do I need to do?
Do that for.
But it was thanks to my fatherthat was always insistent on at
home you speak Spanish.
Outside the house, you canspeak English, but in home
because he was it wasn't so muchthat you know he didn't want me

(48:00):
to speak the English languageat home, because he understood
it.
They understood it.
They went to school and, youknow, did their ESL classes to
understand it.
It was that he did not want meto lose the Spanish.
Yeah, exactly so, and he knew Ineeded to practice it.
So, you know, being able to havewhat I'm getting at is being
able to have entities such asCatholic Charities present and

(48:25):
active in the community,demonstrating what language
ability is about right, becausewhen we're growing up and we're
forced to become the familyinterpreter, it's like I don't
want to be that when I go upyeah, why it's free, it's
torturous and, you know, there'stoo much expectation.
But when we are able todemonstrate that languages are a

(48:48):
part of effective communicationand that there is much more to
it than what we see growing up,that it's a profession, right,
that it could fulfill even yourdesire to be able to help and
support your community and giveback to your community by means
of transferring messages betweenlanguages.

(49:08):
I think that it sort of changesAt least that's what happened
to me.
It sort of changes yourperspective on the topic of
languages, right, and what aprivilege it is for us to be
able to navigate both worlds,exactly.

Speaker 2 (49:23):
And to your point.
I think it's important thatyoung people get that message,
that they understand that theycan take this feeling of
isolation and, like you said,neither here nor there and they
can take control of it, becausewhen you're, you know minding
your dad and you're doing whathe says and you're speaking
Spanish at home like he's.

(49:43):
I mean, my dad was the same way.
We weren't bilingual, but hewas always you know.
Family is never, is veryimportant.
Never lose it.
You know your heritage is veryimportant.
Never lose it.

Speaker 1 (49:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (49:54):
And this was always when I had a fight with my
sister or something, but youknow.
But?
But yeah, parents are that wayand thank goodness we are, you
know.
I say we because, as a parentnow I understand where that was
coming from, from him.
Yeah, but to tell a person thatthey can take control of this,
as opposed to being controlledby it or having that as a factor

(50:16):
that you know you're gettingasked to interpret, here, there,
whatever, to pursue a careerthis way and to put yourself in
that position, it gives youchoices that you didn't have
before, and you may still notchoose them, but they're there,
mm.
Hmm, they're available to you,you know.

Speaker 1 (50:32):
For sure, yeah, it's such a, it's such a great topic
because it definitely especiallyfor the youngsters.
Right when I would go into, Iused to work for the school
district and we would, theywould invite us to do
presentations for career weekand so we would go in as
language professionals tointroduce the profession to the

(50:57):
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 myfavorite sort of specialty areas
to introduce to these, to theseyoung students, was you know

(51:17):
you can combine your skillsets.
So you know you combine yourlanguage ability and then you
combine your other love forsomething else.
Let's say it's gaming, and youcan do what's called
localization for gamingcompanies and you still get to
play all day, exactly, or fromhome, utilize your skills, and

(51:39):
their eyes would just like openup, like what?
That's a thing, right.

Speaker 2 (51:43):
I'm going to steal that from you next time.

Speaker 1 (51:47):
It's.
It was just lovely to see, youknow, their faces light up in
terms of the language.
When you talk about language byitself, particularly for those
that are bilingual, it soundslike a boring topic.
But when you bring in theseother components professionalism
, you know the industry andother things that you can

(52:07):
combine them with and to seetheir little light I mean their
little eyes light up, it wasjust like, oh, I got it.
I got what you guys are lookingat, right, just a combination
of skillsets.
So anyway, lisa, it was just,you know, this idea of being
able to bring together theresources out in a community,
particularly for those communityinterpreters that are out there

(52:28):
navigating potentially some ofthese uncharted waters and
needing ideas to maybe present.
And I know that you and I, prerecording, talked about
something that's near and dearto your heart, which is about
how contractors are better ableto leverage the relationships
that they have with languageservice agencies to achieve

(52:50):
their career and income goalsyou had mentioned.
So let's dive a little bit intothat and what those
recommendations are for you, sothat we can leave our listeners
with some resources andpotentially some even to do is,
especially if they're juststarting out in the in the
professional interpreting career.

Speaker 2 (53:09):
Well, I'll say don't look at agencies as as language.
You know providing agencies asanyone that wants to hurt you
because they need you.
Okay, I can't speak for for forprofit agencies.
I can only speak from myexperience here with Catholic
Charities, but you know we viewour interpreters as as the

(53:31):
professionals that they are.
Okay, there's so many thingsthat could not happen or get
done without their assistance.
Talk with these agencies, findout what you know, what their
rules are, who their clients are, who they're serving, who
they're working with.
For example, catholic Charitieshere in Louisville, we
specialize in spoken languagemedical interpreting.

(53:54):
That was the biggest need thatwe saw and that's the biggest
group of clients that we hadbeen providing services for, as
folks who you know, spokemultiple 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'swe don't readily have folks

(54:19):
arriving that require that.
Anyway, so you know, find outwhat they're paying.
Oftentimes an agency is goingto pay less than what you would
charge if you were working onyour own and going to do an
interpreting assignment.
You have to think about thingslike what's, what's the agency's
position in the community?
How does the community.

(54:39):
See, this agency, catholicCharities, has been established
here for a long time.
We have a very good reputationin the Louisville area for
providing really well trained,top quality interpreting
services, and so interpreterswho provide these great services
.
So you know, ask about the.

(54:59):
You know the agency'sreputation.
A lot of my job is a lot of mytime is spent meeting with
partners, making new connectionswith businesses and whether
they're required to comply withTitle 6 or not, because I will
get up on a title, so soapbox.
But you know that's a differenttime, right, you know, but but

(55:25):
I love to introduce this as anidea to businesses that don't
have to comply, because I'vejust opened up a brand new
market to them.
You know exactly, and so youknow ask that that's a lot of
what I do, that's how I spendmost of my time.
So I am constantly out theretrying to bring in new business

(55:46):
and create more opportunitiesfor the interpreters who are
working with us.
You know we have a contract andhandbook.
You know policies that ourinterpreters have to abide by.
Those rules are in place for areason.
You know we were working almostas a cooperative here in this.
This is a social enterpriseprogram, but you know we have to

(56:12):
maintain these rules.
This is how we manage to getthis reputation so great and
Louisville, as you know, themost professional interpreters
is because you know you have toprovide great customer service
to the requesters who arecalling you, needing to schedule
, to have those relationshipsand those customers to keep

(56:33):
coming back and requesting fromyou over and over again.
So you know the agency thatthat you might choose to work
with.
You know how many appointmentsare they doing on site.
How many appointments are theydoing.
Do they offer virtual or remoteservices?
You know can you, are youeligible for for providing both?
You know with that agency whatlanguages do they need.

(56:57):
For example, we have a reallylarge Cuban population here in
the Louisville area.
So that is by far the demand.
That is, you know, or thelanguage that's requested the
most.
Consequently, that's the.
You know we have a ton ofSpanish speaking interpreters,
but only the very best Spanishspeaking interpreters, because

(57:19):
everybody deserves a greatinterpreter there.
You know there's so manySpanish speakers here that do it
well and folks who have beenwith us forever who do it well.
You know they're the ones whoare going to get the jobs that.
You know, the ones who are, youknow, in it with us, so to
speak.
You know playing with team.
So when, when our interpretersare working in the community,

(57:42):
they're representing the agency.
They're also representing eachother.
I will guarantee you that thedoctor's office who called me to
schedule this interpreterthey're not going to remember
that interpreter's name, butthey are going to remember
Catholic Charity Center,absolutely Okay.
The experience right Exactly soyou know, we try to make sure
that that is a great experienceevery time right, and that is

(58:06):
helping us to keep you andhelping us to keep work coming
in for everyone.

Speaker 1 (58:10):
I make sense.
No, totally.
I really appreciate the factthat you just made mention.
You know you're not justrepresenting yourself.
You know they may not evenremember you as your name when
you're coming in as anindividual, but they, they, they
think about it as as a wholeprofession.
Right, so working withinterpreters should be like this

(58:30):
and so that way, when every, nomatter who walks in, the
expectation for the level ofservice that's going to be
offered is high, because theyknow that they're working with
trained interpreters, you knowas a whole and that's how they
recognize that, recognize us,them meaning the individuals
that we are working withrecognize us as a profession.

(58:52):
It's not just an individual.
Any individual can do it.
It's somebody that's beentrained, that has the experience
and that understands.
You know the complexities ofnavigating both both languages,
or you know languages in general.
So I appreciate that you saidthat, because it's true, this is
something that we mentioned.
Even when we go out when I goout into, let's say, school

(59:13):
districts and where everyone'skind of doing their own thing,
and it's like we're going tounite as a unit within the
school districts to providethese services and we need to
operate as a unit.
We need to be consistent in theway in which we're providing
the services, which is why thetraining is very important,
exactly.

Speaker 2 (59:30):
And and interpreters know, when it comes to this as a
profession, it's a little bitthe wild west, I mean, because
there are different requirementsand expectations no matter
where you go.
So that is really a key thingfor us and for a lot of our
partners.
Yeah, building these programsis to make sure that we're

(59:51):
establishing you know, these arethe rules, and that is going to
benefit a contractor, aninterpreter, moving forward when
they work with another agencyor another group or something
like that.
Yeah, they'll have this, this,this experience of working with
an agency that really is tryingto to set the rules, set the

(01:00:11):
standards and setting them high.

Speaker 1 (01:00:14):
Yeah, that's why I like that you're even sharing
what they should be looking outfor, particularly the reputable
piece, right?
So you want to make sure thatthis is a reputable company,
that they didn't just begin, youknow, just start sending out I
don't know you to requestsbecause they don't have.
You know, because they saidthat they have languages and

(01:00:36):
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 maywant to start working with.
Maybe, you know, they haven'tbeen around for a long time, I
don't know.
But I think the reputable pieceis very important because, as
you mentioned, you know thatyou're going to be taking care
of you don't have to worry aboutchasing your invoices or, you

(01:00:58):
know, getting paid or any ofthat stuff, right, you don't
have to worry about that whenyou're just, when you're just
starting.
You want to make sure thatyou're working with someone that
that understands the needs ofthe interpreter and, of course,
that it's going to take care ofthose back end things that you
know you may not want or beinterested in doing as a solo

(01:01:18):
pre-noor or something of thesort.

Speaker 2 (01:01:19):
Right, right, so it allows you when you work with an
agency.
It allows you to step in andout of contract work.
This way, you know, at your, atyour leisure, you know, if you
wanted to work full time doingsomething else, if you're
working with an agency likeCatholic Charities, you're.
You have access to ourscheduling portal.

(01:01:40):
You can log in and select theappointments 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 aprofessional and make sure that
we're providing that kind ofsupport to them.
A lot, of, a lot of the thingsthat you really need when you're
starting your own business.

(01:02:01):
You don't, I mean especially ifyou don't have a business
background you go oh, I can, Ican interpret me and three
friends, we all speak the samelanguage.
So we're going to form thisgroup and we're going to provide
this.
Oh, that's wonderful, unlessyou're charging for it.

Speaker 1 (01:02:17):
And then you know, yeah, then it gets complicated,
exactly.

Speaker 2 (01:02:21):
You know who's going to, who's going to collect
payments, who's going to rundown people who haven't paid,
and I'm sorry I'm saying thisfrom a very business.
You know perspective.
You may make less working foran agency the hourly rate but
when you don't have to go outand buy your own air and
emission insurance, or you knowfigure out how to process your

(01:02:44):
own payments, collect money thatyou're owed, hey taxes, hey
taxes.
That's one thing that we arealways watching for compliance.
We have our lists.
You have to have all thesethings and if you don't, you're
not in compliance, you can'ttake appointments with us.

(01:03:04):
So there's four hours ofcontinuing education
requirements for ourinterpreters every year
professional development.
We're not providing it for them, but we are sharing free
resources.

Speaker 1 (01:03:17):
Oh, that's important too.
Yes, to make the connectionswith the resources that are
already out there.
Exactly, go out there andcontinue their professional
growth and expanding.

Speaker 2 (01:03:26):
But if you're on your own.
You don't have that benefit.
You're on your own, Exactly.

Speaker 1 (01:03:31):
And you're having to navigate, like it's just that we
hear it all the time, butthere's so many resources out
there.
There's a ton of resources outthere, but it's kind of like
when you walk into a store andyou've got a zillion options of
the same thing, you still can'tmake up your mind.
Which one do I go for?
Which one is the best?
How do I know that this is agood product?
You know?

(01:03:51):
So it's the same idea whenyou're first starting there.
Yes, there are a lot ofresources, but unless somebody
recommends or says, hey, trythis, 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 oragencies centralize the
resources.
I feel like it's like there's alittle bit of clarity at least

(01:04:14):
on where to begin and then, asyou navigate the industry, you
learn, you know you take whatyou would like and then leave
out what you don't Right.

Speaker 2 (01:04:23):
Exactly, exactly, and I think providing those choices
is what makes us so unique inthis industry.
It's important to know if theagency you're working for is a
nonprofit or if they'refor-profit and have stockholders
to report to.
It's also important to know ifthe agency that you're working

(01:04:48):
with operates in multiple states, and the reason I say that is
because that could make thedifference as to whether you're
referred to as an independentcontractor or an employee.
Oh, wow, okay, that's a goodone.
There are two different.
There's different sets of rulesthat govern the status.
You know that each of thosetypes of employment, so you'll

(01:05:13):
want to ask questions about howthat organization is structured.
If they are paying you as acontractor, you have to.
You know you have to take careof your taxes on your own.
As an employee, you probablyhave the option to have taxes
withheld.
Okay, these are little subtledifferences, but things to
consider, yeah and importantright?

Speaker 1 (01:05:35):
Yeah, they're subtle, but they can absolutely have an
impact, particularly at the endof the year.
What a sign of paying taxesExactly.
I know that we've shared a lotof resources for individuals,
particularly those that arefirst starting, which is, you
know, I think, all it's alwaysimportant, especially if you're

(01:05:58):
trying to sort of get your footin the door and out in the
communities.
Hopefully you have a CatholicCharities, 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, atleast ideas as to where you
could begin and especially thequestions that you should be

(01:06:19):
asking before you decide to joinand provide your services with
this agency.
What other things can you thinkof that you would recommend to
just, you know, independentcontractors that are out there
trying to establish their, maybetheir reputation, or just

(01:06:40):
establish their career in theindustry?
What else can you think of toshare with them?

Speaker 2 (01:06:46):
Listen to professionals, listen to the
people who are around you, watch, listen, you know, pay
attention.
I would, I would encourageself-care to every interpreter.
It's you know we joke aboutbeing a fly on the wall and
getting to be, you know, privyto all of these different types
of conversations and theindustries and the different

(01:07:07):
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 hearabout child abuse, you know,
neglect, all sorts of thingsthat really can weigh heavily on
your mind and on your heart.
You know, and it's importantnot to carry that around with
you.

(01:07:28):
I don't know, maybe after sometime you can become a little bit
desensitized to it, butsometimes there are things that
hang around you know, thingsthat you just can't get out of
your mind.
So don't, don't overlook yourneed to take care of yourself
and and you know, do what youyou need to do.
Take the time that you need totake to make sure that you are

(01:07:50):
doing the best job that you canpossibly do.
Like I said, everybody deservesa good interpreter For sure.

Speaker 1 (01:07:55):
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 thinkindividuals are opening up more
to this topic, that it plays avery important role in the life
of interpreters, and if it if itdoesn't, or you think that you

(01:08:17):
know it hasn't been potentiallyan important topic, then maybe
it's something that you shouldlook into, because of what you
said just now, that we may notthink it's it's necessarily
until it suddenly becomesnecessary, right, and by then
now we've got to be now reactiveas opposed to proactive, and
making sure that we're includingstrategies that are going to

(01:08:40):
support us with our mentalhealth and just overall health
in terms of after an assignmentor something of the sort.
And, and begin with, I've had alot of conversations, by the way
, lisa, with several guests withregards to this particular
topic, from all kinds ofdifferent angles, and I like the
recommendation that was oncemade, which was begin with your

(01:09:02):
with the agency itself andfinding out what they offer for
you as an interpreter.
Right, being able to startthere and then branching out to
potentially, maybe peer groupsor something of the sort, maybe
during conferences or just beingable to talk about, you know,
the encounter that you had andyour feelings, and all of that

(01:09:22):
to release it.
So that's a great point.

Speaker 2 (01:09:25):
Yeah, exactly, and you don't have to give away
someone's personal details orbreak any confidentiality rules
to be able to have thosediscussions.
That it's a very importanttopic to me.
I think it's essential forpreventing, you know, burnout
completely in this type of work.
I'm not a person who hasn'tbeen touched by mental health

(01:09:47):
issues, you know.
I scarcely know anyone who cansay that, but it's so important
to me.
I wanted to make sure that ourinterpreters you know many of
the, you know, if they have afull-time job somewhere else,
they probably have insurancethat will provide that.
If they don't and it's none ofmy business, but if they don't,
I still want them to be able toaccess it.

(01:10:08):
So my program does somethingthat's a little weird, but maybe
some others you know becauseyou don't really provide
benefits for your contractors.
But if you're smart, you canwork out.
You know some cool ways tosupport them, and so we have an
agreement with one of our localuniversities, with the
Behavioral Health Clinic.

(01:10:29):
They provide a number for usand our interpreters are able to
call the crisis line if theyneed to talk about something
specific.
We just trade off services.
So when they need aninterpreter, we don't charge
them, and when I don't know whoof our interpreters uses it, it
doesn't.
You know.
I get a report saying how manypeople, but that's all.

(01:10:49):
If it's helping, I'm happy withthat, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:10:53):
But it is utilized.

Speaker 2 (01:10:54):
It is utilized.
Wow, and you know, mentalhealth is viewed so differently
across the board and for everydifferent culture.
Yes, so I don't know what isgoing to be the best thing to do
for everyone, but for me, talktherapy has helped, yeah, and
it's something that we couldmake available without much

(01:11:17):
expense.

Speaker 1 (01:11:17):
So that's awesome.
I love that.
I'm rather a smile to my facebeing glad the box, like you
said, being able to provide theresource for your interpreters
because, like you said,sometimes for one interpreter if
I get up and walk outside andyou know, just sort of shake it
off, that might work.
You know, walk in nature, beingsurrounded by, you know, fresh

(01:11:40):
air and all that stuff thatmight work for me to release it,
but for another interpreter itmay be the talk therapy that is
good in order to be able to talkout.
You know that particularassignment and the feelings, and
I mean it's just.
But having the option at least,particularly for those that are
independent contractors thatdon't have maybe the insurance,
don't know where to go, it'seasy to say I'll find out, you

(01:12:04):
know, more information aboutsomething like that later, and
then later never comes rightExactly.
So that's, that's beautiful.
I love that At least.
That has been such a privilegeand just an honor to be able to
speak with you further about thelanguage access services that
are being provided out inLouisville, kentucky, through
your direction and, of course,under the umbrella of Catholic

(01:12:27):
charities in your particularcommunity.
I think it serves as a greatexample of how other nonprofit
organizations are able to access, tap into the resources and the
topic of language access andbeing able to provide this.
I'm sure that there's plentyplenty of nonprofit
organizations that have similarprograms such as yours out there

(01:12:51):
, but maybe individuals,independent contractors this is
the first time that they hearabout services such as what you
offer.
Maybe look into your localcommunity and see how you're
able to provide some support tobe a contact person maybe even
for your language or yourworking languages for this
particular nonprofitorganization, or even start the

(01:13:14):
conversation, if even that right, yes, so I'm hoping that it
serves a wide variety ofindividuals, maybe those that
were even interested in startinga training program in their own
organization.
Whatever that may be, I'm justhoping, as always, that we were
able to provide some furtherresources, ideas and inspiration

(01:13:35):
.
So I thank you so very much forthe opportunity to have been
here today and having sharedyour expertise, your knowledge
and your resources.
But before we go, where can ourlisteners find out more about
you and the work that you do?

Speaker 2 (01:13:50):
We are at cclouorg forward slash language services.

Speaker 1 (01:13:56):
Remember that you too can submit your interpreter
story or industry relatedinformation on Brand the
Interpreter.
Simply submit a guest form,head on over to the website
brand the interpretercom andfill out the questionnaire.
You can also send me a messageif you would like to recommend
someone for the show.
And remember, if you have aspecific industry related

(01:14:16):
question and would like tosubmit a recorded message for a
chance for it to be aired on thebrand the interpreter show,
simply head on over to thewebsite brand the interpretercom
, click on the let's connectsection and send in your
recording.

Speaker 3 (01:14:30):
Welcome to the turn yourself into a booked out
freelance translator podcast, amix of both solo episodes and
expert interviews.
Our ideal listener is an earlycareer, ambitious and passionate
online language servicesprovider.
She is committed toprofessional growth and
achieving success in thefiercely competitive translation

(01:14:51):
and interpreting industry.
She balances multipleresponsibilities with
resourcefulness, values,mentorship, is open to learning
and investing in herprofessional development journey
.
She embraces technology andseeks to optimize workflow.
Eager to connect withlike-minded peers and build out
her professional network, she isdetermined to overcome

(01:15:13):
challenges and become a soughtafter freelance translator.
In the meantime, why not headover to
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(01:15:36):
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