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Volunteers Make Our World Go ‘Round
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Hi Reader,
For the last ten years, World Speaks has connected our neighbors across the Omaha area, one language at a time. Helping us along the way? Our incredible volunteers!
April is Volunteer Month, and we want to share how volunteers help bring language access to our community through World Speaks!
First, there are our incredible native speaker mentors. These individuals come to our language classes and interact with our students. They share their culture with our students, help them practice, offer advice, motivate them, and answer their questions to support their language journey. The native speaker program has been part of World Speaks’ language classes since our earliest days, because we know how important it is to meet people who know a language deeply.
Next are our World Speaks Ambassadors! They represent our mission throughout the Omaha area by tabling events, promoting our programs, and sharing our mission, vision, and values. You may see that at World Refugee Day, Welcomefest, and other cultural and community events around town. Their friendly, smiling faces and passion for language access are often the first interaction many people have with the concept!
Finally, there are our incredible board members. Our board is all volunteer-run and dedicated to helping steward World Speaks' future. The board provides advice and governance, supports special projects, and seeks ways to connect World Speaks with the greater Omaha community.
We need 3 volunteers on June 20 for World Refugee Day and 2 volunteers on June 27 for the Bridges Family Reunion event - we'd love to have you join us! Click the button to learn more and get started volunteering with World Speaks!
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Volunteer Spotlight: Heather Lake
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Heather Lake is one of those volunteers who does a little bit of everything! As a World Speaks Ambassador, she’s shared about language access and our programs at events across Omaha, and she’s also participated in our native-speaker program in our ESL Classes, helping students practice their conversational skills in a supportive environment.
Heather found World Speaks while searching for volunteer opportunities to help immigrants in Omaha. She says that she wanted to volunteer because “I care deeply about immigrants and the contributions they make to our community. As someone who is learning another language myself, it felt especially meaningful to support others who are building new lives in a different language and culture.”
One of the reasons Heather loves supporting language access is that she deeply believes that everyone should have the opportunity to “get help, access resources, share their experiences, and participate fully in their community. When people can communicate clearly, everyone benefits.”
Thanks to Heather – and all of our incredible volunteers!
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Circling Back on Target Circle! |
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For the first few months of 2026, we were part of the Target Circle voting program – you got to vote for what nonprofits you’d like to receive a grant!
The World Speaks family showed up in a BIG way – we’re so proud to share that 19,598 votes were cast for World Speaks through Target Circle. This helped us win a $1579.51 grant!
More than anything, these votes represent the community’s support for our mission.
Thanks to everyone who has voted for us! We appreciate you so much!
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Language Access in Action |
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We took language access to church on Palm Sunday, when World Speaks provided French interpretation for members of the Christ Missionary Church, who were visiting the Sunday service at Mount Sinai Church.
Typically, we show language access in action at civic meetings, governmental buildings, at businesses, and within the education system. But the need for language access is everywhere – even in faith communities. It was incredible to help create access so these families could fully participate in meaningful community experiences like this one!
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Mark Your Calendar for Language Access Week, June 8-12! |
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Mark Your Calendars and get ready for the third annual Language Access Week!
This year, we’ll be celebrating all things Language Access from June 8-12 – and you’re invited! There will be opportunities to join us at our Moroccan Empanada event to deepen your understanding of language access and learn about organizations across our area that support language access for our neighbors. Watch this space for more information in May!
Thank you to our sponsors - the Weitz Family Foundation, Valmont Industries, Emspace Lovgren and the Omaha Community Foundation - for sponsoring Language Access Week and for the House of Bah Foundation for partnering with us on the Moroccan Empanada event!
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“AI translation programs are sufficient for all language needs – I can just use Google Translate to get my message across!”
With the advent of AI translation and interpretation programs, we often have people ask why we can’t just turn over all translation and interpretation work to computers. But translation and interpretation are some of the things that need a human touch. Why?
- AI often misses cultural context and nuance. Language isn’t just about the words. AI can miss humor, sarcasm, slang, idioms, and (most importantly) can’t apply cultural context to the audience.
- For legal, medical, or highly technical topics, AI cannot provide accurate translations or interpretations. When used in these contexts, people may miss key information because the AI lacks the necessary knowledge to accurately translate.
- “Sufficient” isn’t good enough. When caring for our neighbors, it’s important to go beyond “sufficient.” We need to ensure that the standard is equitable communication, so that everyone is understood – and understands – the information they need. In addition, AI might not meet the language access standards required by law (Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 1557 of the ACA, and Sections 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act and the ADA).
It’s important that as we continue to advocate for Language Access across all areas, we focus on providing the best & most comprehensive interpretation and translation solutions – not just the easiest.
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Want to join World Speaks in our work? There are four ways you can do so!
- Volunteer! We are always looking for native speakers interested in being in-class mentors. We’d love to have you join us this spring!
- Donate – Become a monthly donor or make a one-time donation to support Language Access!
- Leave us a Review – If you’ve taken a language class, don’t forget to spread the word by leaving us a Google review!
- Visit our store for our Mantra wear and encourage Omaha to learn a language and break barriers!
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- Summer Course Registration Opens - May 29
- Language Access Week – June 8-12
- World Refugee Day - June 20
- Interpreter’s Training - June 2026
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