Family Service of Roanoke Valley has announced a new initiative to help victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, where English is not their first language, by working with partners to provide interpreter services. The program was recently announced at Roanoke City’s municipal building. The next step is to help those impacted find the services needed. Partners include the Salvation Army’s Turning Point shelter, Blue Ridge Literacy and the City of Roanoke.
“People who have been traumatized need special services,” says Family Service president and CEO Sharon Thacker. A grant from the U.S. Department of Justice via the Victim of Crime Act will help “provide those services to people who speak languages other than English.” Thacker says the two year grant does have an option to be renewed in subsequent years if the program proves to be effective.
Family Service of Roanoke Valley is a member of the Mental Health Refugee Council, where Thacker realized there was a “critical need in the community,” to find a better way to help those who were not comfortable speaking in English. They were also receiving referrals from people who did speak the language but needed help. “Traumatized people need a special service,” notes Thacker, “they can’t go just anywhere to get help. This [program] is allowing us to provide those trauma-based services to individuals.”
Volatia Language Network, a Grandin CoLab-based business that can provide interpreter services in close to 300 languages currently, has contracted with Family Service since July to provide interpreters who can sit with victims and a counselor, if not in person then via a video link. ”They help people understand our forms and ensure that they knew what they were signing – and they’ve been able to help us understand cultural differences with the people we serve,” says Thacker.
“I am so excited about this – it’s a much-needed service in the community,” notes Thacker, “and to be able to provide this collaborative partnership for the domestic violence community and the criminal justice community is really a dream come true.”
Gene Marrano
