Daisy Artica has found a niche with translating.
She grew up with a mother who didn’t speak English and later provided translation while working in manufacturing.
Now, as the new director of Southern Indiana Hispanic Services, she has found another way to assist the Spanish-speaking population.
“I grew up around all of the uncertainty and all of the doubts of ‘Oh, what is this? I don’t know what this is. Is this OK?’ and all of those things, and so I’m very familiar with that feeling,” the 28-year-old Columbus resident said.
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“Being able to give people the feeling of comfort, confidence that it’s going to be OK and you can trust me and things like that, just the fact that what this says is what I’m telling you or what I’m telling you is appropriate, it’s a really good feeling to have,” she said. “When I come in every day, I know that I’m going to help someone. Even if it’s through the phone, it’s something.”
Since starting with the nonprofit organization in July, Artica has only been in the office from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays and from 2 to 6 p.m. Thursdays because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
People haven’t been allowed to come into the office on the second floor of the Community Agency Building in downtown Seymour, but Artica is more than happy to provide help over the phone.
La Paz de Cristo Social Ministry Inc., which does business as Southern Indiana Hispanic Services, serves the Spanish-speaking population of Seymour and Jackson County with services of interpretation, translation and referrals. It serves to aid those residents with needs of everyday life in the country.
That includes but is not limited to assistance in making medical and dental appointments, interpretation at appointments, aid in filling out a variety of forms, translation of letters and forms and referrals to other agencies when needed.
The staff includes a part-time director, Artica, and a Spanish-speaking volunteer, Joyce Stuckwisch.
The former director left at the end of December 2019, and since Stuckwisch was out of state in January, an intern worked in the office.
Kim Barnett, another former director, later agreed to come in on Saturday mornings to help people.
When Stuckwisch returned, she was in the office for a few weeks until the pandemic started in March and forced the office to close.
“It’s hard to interview for a director when you don’t even know if you’re going to get to open again or when,” Stuckwisch said.
The organization’s board of directors hired Artica after she was recommended for the job by a friend.
“What made me want to do it is that this is actually something that I’ve wanted to do — help people in some way — and I love translating,” she said. “It’s something that comes naturally to me, and if I’m able to help people, I want to help people.”
Artica was born in California but was raised in Seymour and graduated from Seymour High School in 2010. She then went back to California for a month before returning to Seymour and working in manufacturing.
She spent the past six years working at Aisin USA Mfg. Inc. in Seymour, where she started as an operator and later moved to a translator.
“It was a lot of communicating between the operators and the supervisors and upper management,” Artica said, adding she also did translating at the company’s health clinic.
She also has done freelance work with Vernacular Language Services.
“I’ve always done translating of some sort,” she said. “I am very confident in my translating ability.”
So what’s the secret to being a good translator? Accuracy, Artica said.
“It’s a lot of studying, putting aside your personal feelings with what’s being said, not sugarcoating anything,” she said. “If they say A, B and C, you say A, B and C. That’s a very, very big part, and that’s something that’s hard to do, especially when you’re used to speaking in one form. You can’t do that when you’re translating.”
When it comes to helping people fill out paperwork or forms and submitting it, Artica said it’s important to ensure they have all of the information they need to get sent out and make sure it’s done correctly.
She also can help people write letters and fax documents and will even go to hospitals, doctor’s offices, businesses and industries to assist with filling out forms, translating and arranging payment of bills.
Recently, someone had a voicemail on their cellphone that needed translated from English to Spanish.
“I translated the voicemail, called back and took care of it,” Artica said. “We don’t really realize how much we need to know the language to make sure things are communicated.”
There is a fee schedule for services, ranging from $5 for 5 to 15 minutes to $25 for an hour. There also is a $40 charge to translate for businesses or other out-of-office services
Stuckwisch said they try to keep the rates reasonable, and they won’t turn anyone away because they can’t pay.
To help cover office expenses, Southern Indiana Hispanic Services conducts fundraisers throughout the year. The pandemic, however, has halted those this year.
An annual spaghetti dinner was canceled when the pandemic started, and events in April, May and July also were canceled. Plus, SIHS sells doughnut holes during the Seymour Oktoberfest, but that event has been canceled.
The annual budget is $20,000, and typically, 20% comes from clients, 10% comes from business support and 60% comes from fundraising.
“With our director limited, we would like to be open more, but because of losing all of the fundraisers and now limited clientele coming in and still having to pay rent and phone and all of that, we are struggling a lot,” Stuckwisch said.
Clients and others have made donations, so that helps and is much appreciated any time, Artica said.
The hope is to reach a point where the office is open at least five days a week, she said.
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Southern Indiana Hispanic Services is a nonprofit organization that serves the Spanish-speaking population of Seymour and Jackson County with services of interpretation, translation and referrals.
That includes but is not limited to assistance in making medical and dental appointments, interpretation at appointments, aid in filling out a variety of forms, translation of letters and forms and referrals to other agencies when needed.
The office is at 113 N. Chestnut St., Suite 203, on the second floor of the Community Agency Building in downtown Seymour.
It’s open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays and from to 2 to 6 p.m. Thursdays.
For information, call 812-524-8618, email [email protected] or find Southern Indiana Hispanic Services on Facebook.
Donations may be mailed to P.O. Box 49, Seymour, IN 47274.
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