PORTLAND — To highlight its continued commitment to find innovative solutions to better serve consumers, Town & Country Federal Credit Union has announced a new partnership with the House of Languages to provide on-demand phone and video translation services as well as scheduled in-person options.
Through the new partnership, translation services for more than 30 languages are offered on-demand and are now available at all Town & Country branches, and in-person options for other services by appointment. The credit union anticipates expanding the House of Languages services and offerings into other departments in the future. In conjunction with the announcement of the new partnership, Town & Country made a $1,000 contribution on behalf of the House of Languages to the Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center. Representatives from the House of Languages joined Town & Country at the Welcome Center for the presentation of the contribution.
“Language barriers can make it difficult for non-English speakers to access banking services. House of Languages’ staff are excited about our partnership with Town & Country Federal Credit Union. Working together, we are helping make financial services more accessible for new Mainers with limited English skills,” explained Dolgormaa Hersom, president & CEO of House of Languages.
“We have always been about delivering solutions to help us better serve our community and its ever-changing needs. Since our credit union was formed, we have worked hard to make financial services more accessible, and this new partnership is an evolution of that ongoing commitment. The ability to offer on-demand translation services to current and new members will help us to better understand the unique needs of various segments of our population and enable us to provide the products and services they need,” remarked David Libby, president and CEO of Town & Country.
According to Jon Paradise, senior vice president of Communications, Marketing and Community Outreach at Town & Country, the decision to partner with House of Languages was made, in part, because “House of Languages is a local, Portland-based organization and aligns with the credit union’s ‘local helping local’ initiative that not only focuses on providing local financial services and options to consumers but also supports local businesses and organizations. During the pandemic, ‘local helping local’ supported hundreds of local businesses and nonprofits through thousands of dollars in gift cards and contributions. This new partnership is a natural extension of our local focus on making a difference. As our population in southern Maine continues to diversify, we are well-positioned to meet the financial needs new residents may have, including eliminating barriers in communicating those needs.”
Reza Jalali, executive director of the Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center, called the contribution “a wonderful surprise and an opportunity to discuss ways to connect and collaborate with Town & Country and House of Languages to provide access to financial services and resources to more people in our community.”
House of Languages received the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2022 Minority-Owned Small Business of the Year Award for Maine. It provides on-site and remote interpreting and document translation services in 30-plus languages spoken in Maine. Its goal is to provide exceptional service to customers to help them communicate across language and cultural barriers. For more, visit http://www.houseoflanguages.com.
As Maine’s second largest credit union with 40,000 members, Town & Country is a full-service financial institution offering a wide range of financial products and services to people who live, work, go to school or worship in Cumberland and York Counties. Designated as one of Maine’s ‘Best Credit Unions’ by Forbes in three out of the past five years, the credit union has $515 million in assets, and is part of the second largest branch network in the country. To learn more, visit http://www.tcfcu.com.