Afghan mother holding a child in front of a computer

TLC Working with Afghan Refugees in Middle TN

/in , /by

TLC Partner Catholic Charities, Diocese of Nashville, has welcomed 332 Afghan refugees to Middle Tennessee. The Nashville International Center for Empowerment (NICE), another TLC partner, has settled over 200 Afghan refugees and is expecting up to 100 more. These refugees were displaced by the largest evacuation in 50 years of people from their home country to the U.S.

In the first quarter of 2021, TLC has tested 289 of these refugees to ascertain their English proficiency and either placed them in a TLC English as a Second Language (ESL) class at the appropriate level or referred them to other agencies for assistance. TLC will be testing and referring all the adult refugees in the Nashville area. So far, 108 Afghans have attended a TLC ESL class with more expected to enroll over the coming months.

In addition, TLC was able to offer an Afghan interpreter a scholarship to attend our legal interpreter training, and we hope to be able to offer additional scholarships in the future.

 

 

Siloam Health Logo

TLC Participates in Educational Panel for Student Nurses on Language Access

/in /by

TLC Training Specialist Richard Ponce de Leon, TLC Interpreter and MITC Instructor Nadia Crank, and TLC Interpreter Dennis Caffey recently participated in an educational panel for 20 candidates for a doctorate in nursing from Belmont University. They were joined by Dr. Elizabeth Morse, professor of nursing; Erick Hernandez Campos, nurse practitioner and student of the Doctorate in Nursing at Belmont; and Lauren Smith, family nurse practitioner at Siloam. The panel, which was sponsored and held at Siloam Health in Nashville, focused on language access, the use of interpreters, and culture-informed healthcare. Siloam Health provides health care for the uninsured, underserved, and culturally marginalized in Middle Tennessee.

laptop screen showing Spanish text

Fifth Cohort of ‘Spanish for Educators’ Starts 10-Week Program

/in /by

The fifth “Spanish for Educator’s 10-week course began on April 4 with 13 participants. The group are all Metro Nashville Public School teachers from either Glencliff High School or the schools that feed into Glencliff. The course was developed by TLC to help participants with little or no previous Spanish study to develop a cultural understanding and a basic repertoire of conversation skills to engage with Spanish speakers in their schools and local communities.

Logo for Office of Family Safety

TLC Participates in Panel on Language Access for Trauma Survivors

/in /by

Erika Burnett, Diversity, Inclusion, and Intercultural Communication Instructor, represented the Tennessee Language Center at the Metro Nashville Office of Family Safety remote and in-person panel about meaningful language access for trauma survivors. The panel addressed staff and partners of Nashville’s Family Safety  Center as well as Tennessee’s statewide family justice centers and their partners (victim advocates, legal aid, prosecutors, medical and mental health professionals, law enforcement, crisis response staff, etc.) Topics addressed included how to prepare a trauma survivor to work with interpreters as well as how to prepare interpreters to work with trauma survivors, what language access plans are and how to begin developing one, and cultural sensitivity.