Language Access

United Way of Southern Nevada’s Language Access Plan

During the pandemic, many organizations in Nevada came together to offer mutual support to community members. However, individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP) faced unique barriers to receiving equitable access to financial support, resources, and information offered by many nonprofit organizations due to their language barriers. To address this issue, the United Way of Southern Nevada (UWSN) launched Unidos Por Nevada – our Language Access Plan (LAP) project.

The program aimed to support historically marginalized and under-resourced communities in Southern Nevada by providing a pathway for nonprofit organizations to develop language access plans intended to provide links to social services in multiple languages. This federally funded project, administered by UWSN, was designed to identify service gaps in our community and ensure that individuals with limited English proficiency were empowered to successfully navigate the diverse network of necessary resources, support, and information.

Through a 2022 Congressional Appropriation, sponsored by Congresswoman Dina Titus, UWSN was awarded $1M for our community-based proposal for nonprofits located in Clark County to develop language access plans that provided access to social services in multiple languages.

UWSN’s Cross-sector Steering Committee reviewed all applications and developed an Asset Map of the twelve nonprofit organizations who received technical support and training to develop and implement their individual language access plans. Under UWSN leadership, this cohort of twelve nonprofits collaborated to ensure residents’ access to emergency services and emerging issues was provided in our community’s nine most often spoken languages besides English. Based on reliable government data and census sources, the project included, but was not limited to, the following languages:

• American Sign Language (ASL)
• Amharic/Ethiopian
• Arabic
• Chinese
• Farsi/Dari
• Filipino
• Korean
• Spanish
• Vietnamese

The project cultivated and promoted diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of our community-based programming. Through this Language Access Plan project, nonprofit organizations gained greater understanding of cultural and subcultural norms through monthly educational workshops, focus groups with residents sharing their “lived experiences” of limited access due to language barriers, and increased sensitivity training through subject matter experts in legalities and the positive impact this project created in the lives of individuals, families, and children who needed assistance in securing shelter, acquiring food, accessing healthcare, and emergency crisis services to ensure their basic daily needs were met. This project provided strategies to support agency programs as they assisted people in crisis in building their individual pathway(s) out of poverty, medical crises, and emergency situations. We proudly connected people to resources to increase their self-sufficiency and self-esteem, and we respectfully acknowledged the challenges associated with accessing short and long-term safe housing, daily nutritional food, and financial stability.

Program Partners

• African Diaspora of Las Vegas
• Arriba Las Vegas Worker Center
• Asian Community Development Council
• Casa de Luz
• DISCOVERY Children’s Museum
• Indigenous A.F.
• Lighthouse Charities
• Make the Road Nevada
• Nevada Mercy and Care Inc
• Project REAL
• Puentes
• Research Education and Access for Community Health (R.E.A.C.H.)

Objectives

The program’s objectives were:

• To allocate funds to the selected 12 nonprofits to develop a language access plan.
• To create a reliable, realistic, and applicable Language Access Plans.
• To promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• To give fair access to services to our limited English proficiency (LEP) community members.
• To train, educate, and teach individuals and organizations about other cultures, ethnicities, and traditions.

Eligibility Requirements for Organizational Applicants

• Organizations with Nonprofit 501c3 Status
• Organizations with a SAM and UEI registration
• Currently providing services in at least one of the identified languages