Walk through the process of filling out a language access planning tool for your organization.

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The United States has more immigrants than any other country in the world. Today, more than 40 million people living in the U.S. were born in another country, accounting for about one-fifth of the world’s migrants [Pew Research Center]. Here in Indiana, we have welcomed refugees from more than 160 countries and have over 100 languages used among our residents. In addition, at least 10% of the U.S. population was either born or have become Deaf or hard of hearing.

If your organization serves the public, you’ve likely come into contact with community members who have language barriers—immigrants, refugees, and the Deaf and hard of hearing community.

To better serve the community and open up your doors to more consumers, your organization can create a language access plan to:

• Research the language demographics of your service area
• Identify opportunities where language barriers may occur
• Understand the resources you currently have available and need to seek out
• Outline how to put language access measures in place and identify roles and responsibilities with this plan

Join us on Thursday, October 28th from 12 – 1 p.m. (ET) to walk through a language access planning tool to get started on your roadmap to become more accessible and inclusive to these populations. Immigrant Welcome Center Community Impact Coordinator Graham Melendez will be moderating the discussion as LUNA Language Services President Marina Hadjioannou Waters will be utilizing real data from a local nonprofit partner, Exodus Refugee Immigration, to exemplify how this document may be constructed and discuss its usefulness to your organization.

📋 Note: Participants will be provided with the language access planning tool before the event in hopes that they are able to fill out their own plan throughout the course of the discussion.

🎥 We will be recording the session and sending a link of the recording out to all registered participants.

🤟 An ASL interpreter will be provided for this event.

🤝 This event is free to attend, but we request that you consider an optional donation to our nonprofit partners for this event, Immigrant Welcome Center and Exodus Refugee Immigration.

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More about the speakers:

👤 Graham Melendez, Community Impact Coordinator, Immigrant Welcome Center

Originally born in Cusco, Perú, Graham Melendez arrived in the U.S. at the age of eight and moved to Indiana in 2007 after receiving a scholarship from the University of Evansville. Graham has been involved with the Immigrant Welcome Center (IWC) since October 2017, beginning his service as a volunteer Natural Helper and then becoming a staff member in May of 2018. Graham currently works as IWC’s Community Impact Coordinator, building relationships with community partners and members of the immigrant community. Graham works hard to transform these connections into resources for immigrants and refugees to utilize to survive and thrive as they navigate the U.S. system. He currently serves on the Board of Directors at LifeJourney Church, Grassroot Projects, and Healthy Families, as well the Governance Committee of Mayor Hogsett’s Community Food Access Advisory Commission. In 2020, he was nominated by community leaders and featured in the “Indianapolis Star” for his work as one of the top 10 Latinx helping our community thrive.

👤 Marina Hadjioannou Waters, JD, MPH, President of LUNA Language Services

Marina Hadjioannou Waters has dedicated 20 years of her career and academic interests advocating for the civil, political and cultural rights of communities facing discrimination. After participating in research for disability determinations as a young psychology graduate, she pursued her Master’s Degree in Public Health focusing on Community Health Practice. In her role as President, Marina oversees the growth of the company by managing contracts and establishing outreach programs with community partners. She provides Title VI consulting to clients and the community, as well as speaks publicly on the important topics of nondiscrimination, multiculturalism, and corporate social responsibility.