Belvidere Township Park District introduces instant language assistance with over 150 languages

BELVIDERE, Ill. (WTVO) — A new device is helping break down language barriers at the Belvidere Township Park District.

“The Belvidere community is a very diverse community, and we’re very excited to be able to offer this service to them so that we can communicate with our public more effectively,” said special recreation manager Katie Humphrey.

It’s called Instant language assistance, which helps people communicate in over 150 languages. The idea came to the district and Humphrey a year ago. Humphrey said the district received over $7,000 in a grant from the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois, allowing for the purchase of two devices in the district.

“The second add-on we did was live ASL services so American Sign Language interpreting services,” explained Humphrey.

Belvidere residents Carmen and Carlos Villarreal frequently visit the district. They said these devices are a great addition.

“It’s a great tool to use, especially here at the Belvidere Park District, because our community being more and more Hispanic throughout the years, and I know that a lot of them want to get involved and a lot of them are just afraid of the language barrier. So, this device will help those that are unable or embarrassed to some degree to come in and just ask questions,” shared Carlos Villarreal.