Boston Housing Authority

The Boston Housing Authority (BHA) is the largest landlord in New England. Its main mission is to provide affordable housing through the administration of rental assistance programs. It is comprised of many racial, ethnic, and linguistic minorities, many of whom are newcomers to the Boston area with limited English speaking and reading abilities. As a response to the language needs of the BHA community, the Language Access Team under the BHA Office of Civil Rights has established the Volunteer Interpreters Program (VIP). The purpose of BHA-VIP is to recruit and train volunteer interpreters in order to provide interpretation and translation services to families with limited English proficiency who are going through the housing process.