Welcome to the new Community Interpreter Services blog! Here you’ll find regular updates from our team including events at CIS and Catholic Charities, news from the interpreter services industry, and featured spotlights on the Catholic Charities social service programs that receive funding as a result of our revenue.

As a social enterprise of Catholic Charities Boston, Community Interpreter Services (CIS) is the only nonprofit interpreter service provider in the state. Profits from CIS are reinvested into the many social service programs Catholic Charities offers for those trying to escape poverty and lead meaningful, productive lives. Catholic Charities is one of the largest social service agencies in the Commonwealth, serving over 165,000 individuals each year regardless of faith, race, abilities, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or socio-economic class.

Since 1986, CIS revenue has helped to put food on the shelves at our food banks, provide youth mentors to troubled teens, and run an annual summer camp for children from low-income neighborhoods. When you book through CIS 7 times, it assists in stocking a full classroom with school supplies to start off the year. Eleven hours of interpreter services helps fund a Licensed Clinician for family support groups to help guide families struggling with addiction.

While our revenue helps support these programs, the main purpose of CIS is to provide interpreter and translation services to refugees and immigrants, all of whom are from a variety of ethnic, religious, and linguistic backgrounds. With over 30 years of experience in the interpretation industry, CIS has developed unique expertise in delivering professional language services throughout the Commonwealth. We work with corporations and agencies that have diverse customer bases and employee populations to overcome language barriers.

According to The American Immigration Council, immigrants account for 16% of the Massachusetts population. Almost 10% of Commonwealth residents over age 5 have limited English proficiency (LEP), as reported by the Migration Policy Institute in 2016. Throughout the years we have seen the LEP population shift. In the past 10 years, CIS has provided interpreter services to over 100,000 LEP individuals, children, families, and elders – allowing them access to critical services in their native language. Today, we estimate that the majority of the LEP persons we serve are elderly, low-income and among the disabled population.

To learn more about who we serve and how our revenue benefits local communities, watch this space for regular updates and sign up for our monthly newsletter to stay in the loop!