Our director of organizing Grace Pai spoke with WBEZ about our work to strengthen language access in Illinois, and how the pandemic has highlighted the need for long-term solutions.
“For every new initiative, the city or the state announces … whether it’s rent assistance or just any new policy encouraging folks to stay home, that information is not necessarily getting deep into immigrant and refugee and limited English proficient communities,” said Grace Pai, director of organizing at Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago.
“It’s extremely important that when someone, who is limited English proficient, needs to seek health care that they’re able to do so in a way that just offers them dignity in that experience … so that they can clearly communicate their symptoms and what they’re going through,” Pai said.