Interpreting for the deaf is a role one local organization hopes to make a little easier through a new designation.

Midland Empire Resources for Independent Living (MERIL) said its Bridge Interpreting has now become a Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) approved sponsor.

“Interpreters are required to get professional development credit every year similar to doctors and lawyers,” said Harrison Jones an Interpreter Specialist with MERIL. “Bridge Interpreting has been providing those for several years now but we’ve always had to go through another agency to approve those for national credit. Now, Bridge Interpreting has received status where we can approve workshops and other professional development activities without having to go through another agency.”

Jones said the RID designation has been something MERIL has been working to attain for several months.

“We had to complete an online application to the national organizations that has approved us as sponsors. It required a lot of information about how we run our professional development, what our policies and procedures are and other information about what MERIL does,” Jones said.

Interpreters are needed for many different reasons.

“We send interpreters when requested for court, doctors appointments, anything like that,” Jones said. “We work with numerous different companies, businesses and things in the area.”

The program provides translators for the deaf in English and Spanish.

“We probably have about 100 to 150 individuals in the northwest Missouri area and we serve probably two to three times that in the Kansas City area as well,” Jones said.

For more information on the program contact MERIL at [email protected] or (816) 244-0834