Past Grants

Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County (JFS) will improve the capacity of its current language interpretation services to address the health-related needs of the increased number of refugees being settled in Michigan. Through this funding they will create a process and training for certified medical interpreters to support the interpreters’ credentialling in community interpretation and specialized medical interpretation, with a focus on mental health interpretation. This will also include sessions for interpreters to recognize their own triggers and signs of trauma as a result of their work with this population. JFS has settled 304 Afghan humanitarian parolees between September 2021 – February 2022 and is approved to settle another 350 refugees and special immigrant visa holders by September 2022. These refugees experience a higher incidence of traumatic stress and typically come from non-English speaking countries, making interpretation of health-related needs critical to their successful resettlement.