Responding to the challenges of diversity

Chicago’s increasingly diverse communities provide a special challenge to professionals serving clients with limited English language skills. While these individuals require open and easy access to a wide spectrum of health care, legal, business, financial, community, and social service organizations, language barriers often complicate delivery of services.

Cross-Cultural Interpreting Services (CCIS), a program of Heartland Alliance, was established in 1996 to improve access to services for the Limited-English-Proficient (LEP) client. As the first program of its kind in Illinois to recruit, assess, and train individuals in the field of interpretation, CCIS has built a reputation for state-of-the-art cross-cultural interpretation.