Compassion and Care at the Heart of Every Respond Team-By Marie-Ève Monette and Tatiana García

The individuals we serve will have faced racism, sexism, bigotry, and other forms of violence and prejudice throughout the U.S. government’s immigration system by the time they are finally connected to Respond. 

How do we make sure that this experience changes when they meet our translators and interpreters? 

“We try to find the best way to support each case with the human kindness and warmth that is often denied to language minorities,” Tatiana said when asked to talk about what she values most about her work as the Spanish Team Lead at Respond. 

How do we create the safest and kindest environment possible for those we serve?

We connect each individual with trauma-informed language practitioners who have received training at Respond. This is our way of ensuring that translators and interpreters do not contribute to the retraumatization of the individuals they support. As they interpret for migrants who are fleeing state, economic and gender-based violence, as well as environmental disasters Respond, interpreters and translators create safe and compassionate environments for these survivors to share painful memories.  

We advocate for each asylum seeker, refugee, migrant, and immigrant we work with. Tatiana is amazed by the amount of care the Spanish team puts in every case they receive: “Today, the Spanish Team has translated more than 20,000 pages, and we still go the extra mile to make sure that people get the language support that they need and deserve. We tailor solutions for individuals who didn’t have the opportunity to learn how to write or read; who do not have access to certain platforms. For those who work with pro bono lawyers as well as those who are still looking for counseling through our partner organizations. We find court interpreters when previous arrangements have fallen through, and so much more.”

The Spanish Team is only one example of what we do. We work in 108 languages and provide the same care across all our language teams. 

Tatiana is so proud to work at Respond: “I think this human approach is what has led to Respond’s rapid growth and what will allow us to inspire the change that we want to see in the world.”

Will you help us continue to inspire that change? Please donate now so that we can continue to provide our compassionate and culturally responsive language support to thousands of asylum seekers, refugees, migrants, and other individuals throughout the U.S. and around the world.