The Center broadens its reach by partnering with CCI Group
July 21, 2021
Orlando, Fla. (June 25, 2021) – The Center Orlando, a nonprofit organization that promotes and empowers the LGBTQIA+ community and its allies, in partnership with CCI Group, is now offering translation services, expanding the organization’s mission to help the community in Central Florida regardless of the language they speak.
Orlando-based CCI Group will offer different solutions in order to break language barriers for people served by The Center utilizing the company’s worldwide network of interpreters and translators of more than 200 different languages. The initiative is the first to provide such services in Central Florida to LGBTQ+ individuals regardless of the language they speak.
“Many times, the people we serve are talking about extremely personal and sensitive subjects and, in the past, would need to bring a family member or friend to interpret for them,” says Joel Morales, director of operations and program director, Orlando United Assistance Center. “Unfortunately, in too many cases, this would result in the individual not coming to us to keep their needs secret.
Thanks to the work of CCI Group, this will not happen again,” he adds.
The Center has been working to find a solution to language issues for several years. For a time, Morales was the only staff member fluent in Spanish. They worked to find bilingual case managers who have been hired recently.
But that still left those speaking Central Florida’s other dominant languages – Portuguese, Creole and Vietnamese – with barriers to receiving needed services. Plus, as Central Florida continues to grow as an international destination, the demand for unique languages will continue to grow.
“Learning about this need was heartbreaking and I knew this was an opportunity to not only help this organization, but our community in general” says Indy Vega, founder and CEO, CCI Group. “I know first-hand the barriers of language and culture and I want to make sure people who need critical services do not have to worry about understanding English.”
CCI Group specializes in providing governments, courts and businesses with a wide range of linguistic services. The company contracts with interpreters and translators throughout the world to ensure that specific and unique dialects can be provided quickly and accurately.
Those services will be available for all of The Center’s services, including mental health counselling, immigration services, career planning, HIV testing and more. Plus, CCI Group will be translating printed documents and information in multiple languages to ensure each unique population can understand them.
“We are leading the way in our community towards true language justice,” Morales says. “Speaking to people in your native language humanizes everyone. We want to do everything we can to make people feel comfortable.”
Listen to the full interview with Joel from The Center and Indy Vega from CCI Group here
