SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — As hundreds of Ukrainian refugees are allowed in the United States, finding them help starts with an interpreter.
They are essential in getting them the services they need to acclimate.
A San Diego language service company is offering their services at no charge for Ukrainian refugees in the U.S.
As Ukrainian families arrive in the U.S., including at the San Ysidro border, they are meeting attorney's and social service workers but there's still a language barrier in getting them help during a critical time.
“We're relying upon our network to bridge that gap,” said Shamus Sayed.
Sayed is the Vice President of Interpreters Unlimited, a San Diego based company that has 10,000 linguists across the country, providing interpreter and translation services in 200 languages, including Ukrainian.
“In the last 30 days, our requests for interpreters in that language has increased threefold,” said Sayed.
He says what used to be 10-20 requests a month for a Ukrainian linguist has turned into 40 requests and the need is growing.
“As many people that have reached out to us needing the services, we've had the equal a number of interpreters offering their Ukrainian interpretation services, which is amazing,” said Sayed.
Interpreters Unlimited often works with the government, doctors, legal and community agencies for a fee.
However, with the Russian invasion in Ukraine, there's no charge for language service assistance for Ukrainians, including many who are trying to reunite with family members in the U.S.
“A great example is we were contacted by an individual who's working with a Ukrainian family as we speak,” said Sayed.
They're also teaming up with Autism Research Institute to help answer questions from Ukrainian families with autistic children.
The linguists are there to be an interpreter or translator so no advice is given, the needs are confidential and the services for Ukrainians are immediate during a time of urgency so they can be understood.
“We can offer these services over the phone, and you can access an interpreter over the phone really within less than a minute. And they're available. 24/7,” said Sayed.
If you would like to provide Ukrainian interpreter services or you need an interpreter go to interpretersunlimited.com
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