March 16th, 2020
LatinxGR offers translation services to businesses looking to communicate important updates surrounding COVID-19
In times like this, it is extremely important that systems, institutions, and municipalities be prepared to communicate to all communities they serve and to whom they are accountable. We hope and expect that they allocate necessary resources to ensure that all communities have access to the latest information about COVID-19, community precautions and resources available to them.
Statement from LatinxGR regarding COVID-19 messaging translation:
In times like this, it is extremely important that systems, institutions, and municipalities be prepared to communicate to all communities they serve and to whom they are accountable. We hope and expect that they allocate necessary resources to ensure that all communities have access to the latest information about COVID-19, community precautions and resources available to them. This includes offering information in a variety of formats and languages.
LatinxGR, a collaborative of the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan, Latino Community Coalition, Latina Network of West Michigan, West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the West Michigan Latino Network, is concerned about the lack of information available in Spanish and other languages. We need every person to be informed to minimize exposure to the virus. Lack of multi-language translation and interpretation of information further exacerbates the public health pandemic we are facing.
In an attempt to meet the language and information needs, LatinxGR organized a crowdsourcing strategy for local bilingual volunteers to translate text for smaller sized messages,such as Facebook posts, which can be accessed by volunteers and organizations that need support at bit.ly/GRVolunteerTranslation. For translation of larger documents and/or for interpretation services, the Hispanic Center of West Michigan has some funds available to support organizations for whom the cost of translation or interpretation is a barrier.