NewsRelease

Center for New North Carolinians Awarded New Contract
 
GREENSBORO –  The Center for New North Carolinians at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro has been awarded a new state contract to train interpreters who will serve refugees in five cities across the state.

The $293,000 contract will provide training and service fees for approximately 300 interpreters who will assist refugees needing interpreter services with health and human services providers. The interpreters will work in Asheville, Charlotte, Greensboro, New Bern and Raleigh, where the bulk of the state’s refugees have been resettled. The funding will enable the center to continue the interpreter training and services it has provided since it was established in 2001, and will help assure a professional quality interpreter training program for the state of North Carolina.

“One of the first goals of refugees arriving in America is to learn English as quickly as possible. But in the meantime, they need culturally competent health care,” said Dr. Raleigh Bailey, director of the center. “Interpreters provide critical linguistic and cultural bridges between clients and providers in ensuring refugee health as they adjust to their new communities and become productive citizens. We have hired a nationally certified interpreter trainer, Ms. Arelys Chevalier, M.S.W., to manage the project, and we expect to be able to provide professionally trained interpreters through this project."

The mission of UNCG’s Center for New North Carolinians is to enable newcomer acculturation for the common good of the community and state. In addition to interpreter training and services, it provides support to organizations which are working to address immigrant issues and creates other educational programs and services which address unmet needs. The center is also working toward creating an applied research program which responds to the identified needs of immigrant and refugee populations.

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