As our new health organizer Tiffany settles in, a new study supports what we've known all along: 

"Not only does providing professional interpretation make good medical sense, so patients understand their diagnosis and understand the care they are receiving better, but it also makes good economic sense for hospitals." Read on for more!

Many Languages One Voice seeks bilingual Community Outreach/Story-Collecting interns to inform community members of their rights to access public services, gather stories about Limited/Non-English proficient individuals’ experiences, and evaluate government compliance with providing interpretation/translation services. Read on for more information!

This Thursday, Councilmember David Catania countered Mayor Vincent Gray's proposed $23 million cut to Alliance, a public health care program for DC's low-income residents. The Mayor's proposal would preserve primary care services, but eliminate emergency medical care, for many of DC's most vulnerable residents - including many undocumented individuals. At MLOV, we're especially concerned about Alliance because many of DC's Limited- and Non-English Proficient residents rely on it.

Catania's proposal to preserve Alliance, restoring $20 million to the program, met with unanimous approval from the DC City Council's Health Committee. Whether it survives the rest of the budget season remains to be seen. 

The Washington Post reported "the council would be restoring the health insurance program at the same time it is scaling back other government services, including millions in services for the poor, potentially sparking fresh debate about whether city benefits for undocumented immigrants are too generous."

Inflammatory rhetoric from the Twitterverse: "Catania gives $20 million 2 illegal immigrants that could be going to the poor children and homeless citizens of DC." "DC puts illegal aliens ahead of taxpayers and citizens' needs." "DC cutting programs for residents, finds $20m for illegal alien healthcare."

Is saving the life of your neighbor - after all, it's emergency services that the Mayor proposed slashing -  "too generous"? Are not some undocumented immigrants themselves poor children and homeless (and they're all taxpayers)? Should a lack of immigration paperwork be the grounds to deny someone basic human rights? Finally, why are "millions in services to the poor" even on the chopping block in a year when DC has a $240 million surplus? 

Coolidge Senior High School will be the first high school in DC with an "English Language Learner (ELL) Support Group", a student envisioned- and led-initiative meant to enrich the overall experience of the school's ELL families. 

Coolidge SMART members spent this past school year researching the best school-based approaches to addressing issues commonly faced by ELL students. After much research, group discussion, and working through proposals, students presented their idea for an intergenerational team dedicated to transforming their school into a multicultural hub. Coolidge's Principal, Thelma Jarrett, was extremely enthusiastic about implementing this student-envisioned project and celebrated the possibility of engaging more immigrant parents in school activities.

Principal Jarrett requested to meet with students again later this month to review SMART's suggestions for the concrete action steps Coolidge needs to take to successfully implement the group next year. The principal also asked students to consider personalizing the name of the group to include Coolidge's overall mission and vision. 

Congratulations to all our SMART members who made this happen: Lidya Abune, Rahwa Mebrahtom, Yonatan Abune, Melat Tsehaye,  Fasil Tsahaye, Tedla Mekkonen, Basluel Mekkonen, Holy Mbah, Kevine, Ribeka Amanuale, Samuael Seyoum, Nahom Girma, Tensaye Dagnachew

Read more on our SMART blog!

At yesterday's Aging and Community Affairs oversight hearing, Executive Director Sapna Pandya joined other DC residents and community advocates in confronting Councilmember Marion Barry about his recent racist comments regarding Asian-owned businesses and Filipino nurses.

Coverage (in Spanish) from WFDC about the report about the state of language access in DC, as detailed in Access Denied: The Unfulfilled Promise of the DC Language Access Act. 

Check out the new DC Language Access Coalition's website to read a report of Access Denied: The Unfulfilled Promise of the DC Language Access Act, prepared by the American University Washington College of Law Immigrant Justice Clinic, based on information and data collected by the DC Language Access Coalition.

The cherry blossoms may have faded, but April is still our favorite time of the year: It's Language Access Month!

On Thursday, April 26th, join us for two great events celebrating the eighth anniversary of the passage of the DC Language Access Act, which guarantees all DC residents the right to interpretation and translation services. 

At 9:30am, the American University Washington College of Law's Immigration Justice Clinic is releasing the findings of a report about language access. The support was developed along with the DC Language Access Coalition - which MLOV hosts and is a member of. The Coalition is hosting a community event at 6pm that evening, further discussing the findings of the report and sharing firsthand testimonies from community members, advocates, and government representatives. 

Read on for more!

Investigated and written by Ha-Rin Kang and Carol Tsoi

In light of the recent discussions spurred by Marion Barry’s disparaging comment on Asian small business owners in Ward 8, staff members at Many Languages One Voice (MLOV) found it necessary to hear from the Asian small business owners themselves. In the span of a week, bilingual staff members interviewed 14 Asian business owners in Ward 8, many of whom did not speak English well.

The commonly heard complaint against Asian small business owners is that they work in Ward 8 for a short period of time, without contributing anything to the community, until they have saved enough money to move out and work in more affluent neighborhoods. However, our anecdotal data states that this is simply not the case.

• Many of the workers we spoke to behind the counter have worked in the neighborhood for 20 to 30 years.
• In one storefront, numerous community service awards crowded the display window. The earliest of which dated back to 1999. When asked about these plaques, the owner answered, “Yes, I donate money and food items to the elementary school across the street several times a year. The parents of the students frequent my shop, so I want to support their children.”
• Another shopkeeper told us that he and his wife go to the Advisory Neighborhood Commission meetings every month. When a local school complained about his distracting store sign, the shopkeeper immediately offered to take down his sign. He believes that communication is the most important thing when working with his customers.
• A restaurant owner, who has been in Ward 8 since 1991, shared that she always tries to cook food that she sells as she would feed them to her own children, with care and cleanliness. She feels directly attacked and misrepresented by Marion Barry’s comments. She was very upset that Marion Barry had to pinpoint “Asian” business owners instead of just general business owners in Ward 8.
• Of the 14 stores we visited, half provided jobs to community members as cashiers or guards. When we asked the other half why they did not hire locals in their shops, they responded that their stores were simply too small to require another employee.

MLOV seeks to hire one Education Organizer to join us no later than May 20th, 2012. Please submit your application on or before April 30th. Download the job description to find out more about the position! 


About the Position: 

 The MLOV Education Organizer will work towards education justice for Limited English Proficient/Non-English Proficient (LEP/NEP) high students and their families living in Washington, DC through targeted community outreach, relationship building, and leadership development of English Language Learner high school students. The Education Organizer primarily guides and supports the organizing work of our student-led group, the Student Multiethnic Action Research Team (SMART).  


Check out our idealist post!