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Stepping Out, The Move, and Walks Through History

This week was full of sunshine (and by that I don’t just mean the sweltering D.C. heat). On Thursday, Ayuda’s Language Access Program moved to K Street in downtown Washington D.C. to accommodate its expanding team and influence. I feel so fortunate to play a part in this new chapter of Ayuda’s history and I realize how fitting it is to be reflecting on Ayuda’s history as part of my post for the week.

Ayuda has assisted immigrants in more than 100,000 cases since its founding in 1973. Ayuda began as a GW Law School clinic in the 1960s; providing general legal services and incorporated in 1973. In the 1980s, Ayuda formed separate immigration law and domestic violence/family law programs and staff attorneys helped draft the Violence Against Women Act legislation. In the 1990s, Ayuda sued the U.S. for discriminating against Central American asylum-seekers. In the 2000s, the DC Bar Foundation provided Ayuda with a major grant to start the Community Legal Interpreter Bank (which ensures that legal service providers meet their legal and ethical obligations to communicate with clients). More recently, in the 2010s, Ayuda received its first Department of Justice Legal Assistance for Victims of Violence grant, hired its first bilingual therapist, secured funding to represent children who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned, expanded language access to Maryland, launched Project END (to assist victims of notario fraud), and launched its Victims Services Interpreter Bank.

Throughout the organization’s lifespan, Ayuda has changed locations on multiple occasions, each move allowing Ayuda to do more and grow more. But growing always comes with some pains. For example, this week our team talked a lot about the fact that document translation requests have increased drastically and how there is a limited amount of money allocated to meeting those requests. As a result, we have to be careful to prioritize client-specific document translations while making a sincere effort to meet every request that we possibly can. Fortunately, I have observed that my team is made up of very hardworking people dedicated to making everything run as smoothly as possible despite increasing demand for services, moving to a new location, and providing interpreters with the best resources available.

The highlights of my week were the out-of-office meetings where I accompanied members of my team to represent Ayuda to various entities in D.C. Monday I went to a law firm where we presented on the importance of language access in the legal realm. On Tuesday, we spoke with an organization seeking interpreters for human trafficking victims (not only was it inspiring to hear about the work that they do, but it was also a moving reminder of the need for interpreters to be sensitive in helping victims tell their stories). On Thursday, I attended the D.C. Consortium of Legal Service Providers where outgoing DC Bar President Annamaria Steward spoke. It was very inspiring to listen to ideas on how to expand access to legal services. On Friday, I attended an Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants meeting where we discussed questions such as the nature of victimhood itself and how to effectively provide trauma-informed care. Outside of work, the highlight of my week was exploring the beautiful Newseum which made me feel like I took a walk through some of the most major moments in history.

– Sophie Leruth (Class of 2019)