NewsRelease

Miller Brewing Company Awards Grant to Train Interpreters

GREENSBORO – A $20,000 grant from Miller Brewing Company will help the Center for New North Carolinians train 20 interpreters to work with Latino immigrants. The language barrier often prevents this rapidly growing group from receiving health care and other vital services.

 “We’re training native Spanish speakers as professional interpreters to assist Latino immigrants in the Piedmont obtain human services,’’ said Center Director Dr. Raleigh Bailey.

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Center for New North Carolinians, part of the School of Human Environmental Sciences, promotes the well-being of all immigrants.

The media are invited to visit a class for interpreters at 10 a.m. Friday, March 28, at the Center, 413 S. Edgeworth Street in downtown Greensboro. A representative from Miller will participate in the class.

The interpreters are completing a 40-hour course that includes lessons about culture and the specialized vocabulary of health care. They learn how to explain complicated health information that is often difficult to translate.

Once trained, the interpreters will help Latinos communicate with doctors, dentists and area health departments. The grant will pay for the interpreters’ training, and health care providers will pay for the interpreters’ services.

“Health care providers have an obligation to provide professional interpretation when needed to assure appropriate services,” Bailey said.

The number of Hispanics and Latinos in North Carolina, many of whom are immigrants, has grown from 76,726 in 1990 to 378,963 in 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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