Press release from Hola Community Arts:
As government officials warn about the dangers of the coronavirus, they’re doing so predominantly in English. They’re potentially not reaching the 1.3 million Spanish speakers in the Carolinas who aren’t proficient in English to make sure they know how to stay healthy.
“Pandemic messaging isn’t effective if people can’t understand it,” said Adriana Chavela, Executive Director of Hola Community Arts.
About 64,000 people in western North Carolina are Hispanic and speak Spanish at home.
“We need to have access to pertinent information, and every minute that information is not available continues to put more lives at risk,” Chavela said.
Holacarolina.com, a Spanish-language website normally reserved for celebrating the diversity of our community has been transformed into a Coronavirus media portal providing essential updates in Spanish to members of the community.
“This has been a rapidly evolving situation so things update almost by the hour,” Chavela said. “We are working around the clock to ensure every person in our community has accurate and timely information.”
In the past 72 hours, holacarolina.com web traffic spiked 260% amid coronavirus news. Social media followers are growing at 17% daily with posts reaching over 80,000 people daily. Stories around social distancing, flattening the curve and local restrictions seem to be driving the explosion in traffic.
“The virus outbreak is unprecedented and the lack of bilingual material exacerbates some of those issues. In less than a week, we have transformed our organization dramatically,” Chavela said.
The Language Task Force at Hola Community Arts is receiving requests for translated materials from State/Local Government, Public Health, Law Enforcement, School Systems and Media operations.
Hola Community Arts is grateful to Dogwood Health Trust for its collaboration and support in bringing timely news updates to our Spanish speaking residents in Western North Carolina. Without hesitation, they provided funds to increase access during this critical time.
“We encourage the use of this vital resource during this emergency, and also hope that organizations providing critical information regarding the support and well-being of the community consider addressing things like language barriers moving forward,” said Chavela.
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