Did you know that 3 out of 10 households in Virginia are limited-English-proficient (LEP), half of those households speak a language other than Spanish, and 1 out of 5 Asian households in VA are limited-English-proficient? (2018 American Community Survey)

Since April 2020, we've been discussing with the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) that providing just English & Spanish language options for their Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program applications is wholly insufficient in meeting the needs of our diverse communities. Last July, we launched a petition calling on them to expand their language options. It's been more than a year since this pandemic began... and nothing has changed.

Now- along with testimony from Suzie and Bryan, two of our community members who have had to help their relatives navigate this inaccessible system- we're relaunching our petition to make our demands even LOUDER! If you had signed the old petition, sign this one again.

Language justice is often overlooked but is relevant in every aspect of our lives. Recently, our advocacy has seen successes in health justice and housing justice, as well!

BEFORE... Those who called 1-877-VAX-IN-VA (Virginia's centralized COVID-19 vaccine information and pre-registration call system) and requested an interpreter would be put on hold until the call simply dropped. Also, English & Spanish were the only language options offered.

As of the start of April, 1-877-VAX-IN-VA now features an expanded phone menu with multiple languages for callers to choose at the beginning of the call. Options 2-6 (Spanish, Korean, Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese) are said in that language, and Option 8 is for other languages. We've gotten media coverage on this crucial step towards vaccine distribution equity on Mic, Richmond Times-Dispatch, and Kaiser Health News.

BEFORE... The staff of Prince William County's Emergency Housing Assistance Program (EHAP), which offers mortgage and utility assistance, only provided assistance in English & Spanish.

Now, applications for PWC's EHAP are available in Korean, Vietnamese, and Dari (scroll to "Ways to submit an application"), and our organizing also resulted in a phone line (703-792-7538) with multilingual options. Read more about this victory for our communities here.

Additionally, Fairfax County's Coordinated Services Planning (CSP) program has modified their phone menu options (703-222-0880, TTY 711) to make navigating easier for non-English and non-Spanish speakers. Fairfax County residents use CSP to request a wide range of assistance, including rent relief, food, healthcare, and employment.

Our Language Justice Committee, established this past January, was formed to initiate conversations about language access as a critical element of social justice movements, celebrate our communities' linguistic diversity (check out thei Spotify playlist!), and ensure that everyone’s voices are included in the process of community change for language justice in Virginia.