From The Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation

We Welcome a New Partner to Help Us Better Serve Wish Families

Wishes really can come true -- and now in any language. In an effort to better serve the San Francisco Bay Area’s growing multi-lingual community, our chapter has implemented a language access program with leading interpretation and translation provider Language Line Services, allowing for instant communication in more than 170 languages.

Language Line Services is the global leader in telephone interpreting and language solutions, serves clients in government, health care, telecom, financial services, insurance and many other industries by quickly connecting them to their customers, patients and sales prospects in over 170 spoken languages and American sign language.

Having support from Language Line Services will greatly enhance our ability to fulfill the wishes of Bay Area children.

The chapter staff already has a variety of languages covered, but has seen an increase in demand for interpretation assistance in foreign languages ranging from Cantonese and Tagalog, to Punjabi and Portuguese.

Having this service only a phone call away comes as a huge comfort to our volunteers and staff who need to understand any medical limitations or concerns during the wish planning process. Approximately 30 percent of the Bay Area’s wishes are for non-English-speakers and require language assistance.

Language Line Services will be utilized by the our chapter as needed to meet with families in their own language, to complete necessary paperwork, and for translation of correspondence and materials which will make services accessible to more patients and their families who might otherwise be unaware of Make-A-Wish.  

In addition, Language Line Services’ interpreters are available 24 hours a day to assist in case of any medical or other emergency for Make-A-Wish staff, who are on-call around the clock during a wish granting activity.

To learn more about Language Line Services, click here.

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Reprinted by permission of Make-A-Wish.

Visit The Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation^®