‘I don’t care if people are of my ethnicity or not, I wanted to help. It’s a
human thing to do. I hope everyone would do that.’
with social services. He did this on his own, motivated by his experi- ence as a displaced person. “I was on the receiving end, and now I was providing those services,” Omerbe- govic said. Tis meant helping even those
refugees who were involved in the ethnic cleansing in his country. “I don’t care if people are of my ethnic- ity or not, I wanted to help,” he said. “For me, it’s a human thing to do. I hope everyone would do that.” Eventually his passion led to
full-time work. In 2000, Ascentria offered him a part-time job help- ing case managers and caseworkers, which led to his being hired full time as a case aide in August 2001.
Responding to growing need Ascentria’s language bank program fills a growing need in Concord and Worcester for interpretation ser- vices. Today several organizations request these services, including health care facilities, government agencies, legal firms, technology companies, insurers, schools and financial institutions. Interpreters are prescreened
for their language proficiency in English and their “target” language. Tey also are trained to ensure that they can communicate effectively and accurately. Among Omerbe- govic and his colleagues, they com- mand 60 languages from Arabic, Albanian, Chinese, Farsi and Malay to Serbian, Somali, Swahili, Tamil,
Author bio: Strahan, a member of the ELCA Deaconess Commu- nity, is a freelance writer and graphic designer.
Twi, Urdu and Vietnamese. Tey serve 200 clients in interpretation services alone. “What we’re doing is not just
providing interpretation for an hour, but providing an opportunity for a refugee or immigrant to earn a living wage to help them become self-sufficient,” said Kathy Lucier, language bank director in Worces- ter. “Te interpreters go back to their communities and help their neighbors, breaking the cycle of poverty. Tey also help their com- munities economically by purchas- ing food at a local store that employs local residents.” In September 2014, LSS was
renamed Ascentria Care Alliance. Te word Ascentria honors the organization’s Lutheran heritage because it references the Ascension and rising together, Lucier said. Tat rising up together is at the heart of the language bank program.
“Our interpreters are giving back to their community, which opens so many opportuni- ties for them,” Omerbegovic says. “We’re more than just a safety net.”
“We’re planting the seeds that allow individuals to lessen [their] reliance on a social safety net,” Lucier said. “We’re empowering our [refugee] interpreters and creating a more positive future for both them and the refugees with whom they work.”
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