Innovative program offers economically disadvantaged multilingual women a way out of homelessness and poverty through the use of their language skills

With the need for bilingual translators on the rise, a new nonprofit called Found in Translation is offering homeless and low-income women the opportunity to earn the professional certificate needed to become medical interpreters in a hospital or clinic.

Based in Medford, Massachusetts, Found in Translation was created by Maria Vertkin, a 25-year-old Russian immigrant with a degree in social work who has dedicated her career to helping homeless women break the cycle of poverty. A multilingual woman herself, Vertkin started the nonprofit to address two persistent social justice problems: the economic disadvantages faced by minority women and disparities in healthcare.

“Minorities, and especially minority women, are disproportionately affected by poverty and homelessness,” says Vertkin, “but many are bilingual, and language is a very marketable skill — a skill that can be used to start a lucrative career.”

One example of such a career is medical interpreting, a profession with a median wage of $43,000+ per year. It’s also a career that would enable the women to make a meaningful and lasting contribution to their own communities.

According to the Boston Herald, medical interpreters are in high demand. The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates find that interpreter and translator jobs will increase by 42.2 percent from now until 2020.

“There’s a lot of untapped talent out there and there’s no reason low-income women have to work for minimum wage when they can make a good salary with good benefits,” Vertkin said. “We looked for people who had ambition, motivation and who knew their strengths and weaknesses.”

Upon successful completion of the course, women are qualified to be employed as medical interpreters, and the course can also be applied toward college credit. The 12-week program is offered at no cost to income-eligible women.

Alex Dupont

See Also

• Interpreting a way out of poverty by Paul Restuccia (Boston Herald)
  Need for bilingual translators growing
• Women Fight Poverty with Free Medical Translation Training
  Low income and homeless women are working to end the cycle of poverty with free training to become medical interpreters
• Found in Translation website
  Transforming Obstacles into Opportunities
• More about medical interpreting
  Effective medical interpretation helps build bridges to better health care.