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Hi Reader,
Ten years ago, we set out with a simple belief: everyone deserves to be heard.
Thanks to supporters like you, that belief has grown into a movement across Omaha and beyond.
In our last decade, together we’ve:
Expanded Community Language Classes in Spanish, ASL, ESL, Arabic, and Korean, helping thousands of neighbors build skills, confidence, and connection.
Delivered Translation & Interpretation services across the Omaha metro, state of Nebraska, as far as the East Coast, so families can access healthcare, education, legal support, and other essential services without language barriers.
Launched Open Doors, providing free interpretation and translation for people seeking housing access.
Educated more than 20,000 people through Language Access Week, building community-wide understanding of why language access matters.
Introduced Community Interpretation Training, empowering multilingual neighbors to become professional interpreters and strengthening our local language access workforce.
And we’re just getting started!
How can you help?
We’re building a team of 10 monthly donors at $50, $100, or $250 to sustain long-term language access (and as a bonus, every monthly donor gets a special World Speaks gift!)
Say yes to language access and become one of our first 10 monthly supporters by clicking the button below.
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Language Access in Action |
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Putting language access into action doesn’t just look like interpretation and translation – it means getting more involved in your community, too!
If you’ve been wondering how you might help foster language access in our community, here are two ways with two local nonprofit organizations:
Become an ESL Conversation Partner with CIRA – ESL Conversation Partners play a crucial role in helping refugees practice their language through regular meetings in the comfort of their homes or within the community, fostering a supportive environment for effective language development. Learn how to get involved here: LINK.
Feed a Refugee Family Monthly with Restoring Dignity - A recent change in the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act permanently ended SNAP for many legally present refugee families in Nebraska. Many lost food support without warning. Some of these families are critically vulnerable, meaning they are likely to become homeless without food aid. Restoring Dignity’s Feed A Family Program is helping provide grocery gift cards to the most vulnerable in our Omaha refugee community. Sponsor a family at: LINK
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Don’t Forget to Vote For Us! |
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We know it’s hard to believe, but it’s almost March – and you only have until March 31 to vote for us in the Target Circle program!
Target Circle is Target’s free loyalty program where members earn votes with their purchases and can direct those votes to local nonprofits. The votes help decide how Target donates funds to support community-focused organizations – just like World Speaks!
Voting is now open through the Target app and website. If you have the Target App, you can vote!
🎯Choose my Target
🎯Tap “Cast Votes”
🎯Find World Speaks and Vote!
Voting ends March 31, 2026 - every vote helps us continue expanding language access in our community.
Thank you for your support!
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"Interpretation and translation are the same, right?"
When you work in language access, you hear this a lot (along with “I need someone to translate at our meeting” or “Can you take this brochure and interpret it into Spanish?”)
To people who don’t work in language access, interpretation, and translation can seem really similar – they both involve taking source material and conveying the message in another language. However, they are two different disciplines!
- Translation is used for written language and conveys the sense of words or text in another language.
- Interpretation is for spoken language or sign language and conveys the words of someone speaking (or signing) in another language.
If you need a handy guide to remember which is which, just remember:
Translation is for Text
Interpretation is for In The Moment (Signed or Spoken Words)
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Inclusive Communities Workshop
We were so excited to partner with Inclusive Communities to give a workshop titled “Inclusive Communication: Communicating Across Language Barriers.”
The session explored language and cultural differences, shared practical tools for communicating with non-English speakers, and included a hands-on ASL lesson led by one of our instructors focused on engaging with deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals.
To support the workshop, we created a multilingual vocabulary guide, with Spanish, French, Arabic, and ASL, plus audio and video support, so that volunteers can better connect with our diverse community.
We’re so thankful to Inclusive Communities and, as always, are grateful to support inclusive, accessible communication in our community.
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Refugee Solidarity Night
In late January, the World Speaks team attended Sanctuary and Solidarity, where we spent time learning alongside community leaders, advocates, and immigration experts.
We deepened our understanding of refugee resettlement in our region, challenged common myths, and explored meaningful ways to support and stand in solidarity with our refugee neighbors.
We were so grateful for the opportunity to listen, learn, and continue showing up for our community.
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Want to support World Speaks in our work? There are three 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 Super Power Wear!
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- UNO Language Celebration - March 6
- Spring Language Classes Begin – March 16 (Registration Open Now!)
- YP Summit (featuring World Speaks board member Krystal Ryder as a breakout speaker!) – March 27
- Language Access Week – June 8th-12th
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