In January 2015, National Language Service Corps (NLSC) Members
in three of its four Regional Chapters chose to participate in a nationwide
emergency preparedness initiative known as Community Emergency Response Team
(CERT) training sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Showing posts with label FEMA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FEMA. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Pushing Forward in the Year of the Sheep
The National Language Service Corps (NLSC) experienced a successful year fulfilling its mission of maintaining a readily available corps of language volunteers. This year, the Federal Government’s need for language volunteers remained steady, and the program continued supporting language assignments and engaging its membership of over 5,600 Members who currently represent 320 languages.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
NLSC launches first local Chapter in Washington DC
The NLSC launched its first local members’ Chapter in Washington, DC Chapter on Friday, October 14th. The event marked the beginning of the NLSC’s initiative to establish local Chapters throughout the US and overseas in areas where there are high concentrations of US citizens who are foreign language speakers.
Eighty-six attendees enjoyed a cocktail reception followed by words from distinguished speakers. Our keynote speaker was Ms. Dawn Hart (Limited English Proficiency/ Additional Communications Needs Multilingual Content Manager of the Federal Emergency Management Agency) who shared some insights into how FEMA supports Individuals with limited English skills during a disaster.
Other speakers included Dr. Kevin Gormley, Senior Program Officer of the National Security Education Program (now the Defense Language and National Security Education Office - DLNSEO, the NLSC's parent agency), NLSC Members Mr. Wi "Will" Vattananun and Mr. Poowanat "Joe" Tasma, both participants in an assignment in Thailand.
Attendees spoke an array of languages including Arabic, Akan, Dagbani, French, Hausa, Hindi, Igbo, Konkani, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, and Vietnamese.
During the reception, we heard many Members expressed enthusiasm for the NLSC Washington Local Chapter and were interested in receiving further details. They were also excited to network among themselves.
Currently, over 400 members reside in the Washington, DC greater metropolitan area, are available and willing to use their language skills and cultural knowledge in support of federal agencies in this region with foreign language needs.
Washington, DC currently has the largest number of NLSC members in a single geographic area as well as the largest number of government agencies using the NLSC. The NLSC intends to gradually expand chapter organizations into other regions where there are a high number of NLSC members.
Eighty-six attendees enjoyed a cocktail reception followed by words from distinguished speakers. Our keynote speaker was Ms. Dawn Hart (Limited English Proficiency/ Additional Communications Needs Multilingual Content Manager of the Federal Emergency Management Agency) who shared some insights into how FEMA supports Individuals with limited English skills during a disaster.
Other speakers included Dr. Kevin Gormley, Senior Program Officer of the National Security Education Program (now the Defense Language and National Security Education Office - DLNSEO, the NLSC's parent agency), NLSC Members Mr. Wi "Will" Vattananun and Mr. Poowanat "Joe" Tasma, both participants in an assignment in Thailand.
Attendees spoke an array of languages including Arabic, Akan, Dagbani, French, Hausa, Hindi, Igbo, Konkani, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, and Vietnamese.
During the reception, we heard many Members expressed enthusiasm for the NLSC Washington Local Chapter and were interested in receiving further details. They were also excited to network among themselves.
Currently, over 400 members reside in the Washington, DC greater metropolitan area, are available and willing to use their language skills and cultural knowledge in support of federal agencies in this region with foreign language needs.
Washington, DC currently has the largest number of NLSC members in a single geographic area as well as the largest number of government agencies using the NLSC. The NLSC intends to gradually expand chapter organizations into other regions where there are a high number of NLSC members.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
FEMA conducts exercise; NLSC assisted in planning
The NLSC was involved in the planning stage of FEMA's National Level Emergency (NLE) 2011 exercise, which started on Monday, May 16 and concludes tomorrow, May 20.
NLE 2011 is the largest National Level Exercise (NLE) held to date and the first to deal with a natural disaster.
This year’s scenario revolves around a catastrophic earthquake occurring in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) and involves eight Central U.S. States: Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee spread across 4 FEMA regions (IV, V, VI, and VII).
The NLSC provided input on language communities that fall within the NMSZ.
NLE 2011 is the largest National Level Exercise (NLE) held to date and the first to deal with a natural disaster.
This year’s scenario revolves around a catastrophic earthquake occurring in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) and involves eight Central U.S. States: Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee spread across 4 FEMA regions (IV, V, VI, and VII).
The NLSC provided input on language communities that fall within the NMSZ.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
We are assisting FEMA with contingency planning
We are working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on one of its disaster contingency plans. The plan we’re involved with covers the “New Madrid Seismic Zone”, which essentially is made up of part of the Mississippi river valley. Part of the planning is to estimate the number of “people at risk”, which includes disabled people and those who don’t speak English as a first language.
We’ve been providing summary data to FEMA, including the fact that based on 2005 Census data, in the states that make up the New Madrid Seismic Zone there are about 20 million people who speak a language other than English. While the data only indicates individuals who speak a language other than English, it does not indicate how many of those do not speak English. Even so, it provided FEMA a good starting point.
We also provided the map below, which shows, by FEMA’s ten regions, where our NLSC Members are concentrated. Each icon color represents a FEMA region.
We’ve been providing summary data to FEMA, including the fact that based on 2005 Census data, in the states that make up the New Madrid Seismic Zone there are about 20 million people who speak a language other than English. While the data only indicates individuals who speak a language other than English, it does not indicate how many of those do not speak English. Even so, it provided FEMA a good starting point.
We also provided the map below, which shows, by FEMA’s ten regions, where our NLSC Members are concentrated. Each icon color represents a FEMA region.
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