a program of health care advocacy serving immigrants and refugees. In addition, these same advocates speak the following languages:
Amharic, Arabic, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Burmese, Dinka and other Sudanese dialects, Farsi, French, Karen, Kurdish, Russian, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

The Immigrant and Refugee component of Health Assist Tennessee started in January of 2000. It was born from collaboration between Catholic Charities and TennCare Advocacy with the intent of advocating for the growing Arabic and Kurdish populations in Tennessee. Soon, we realized that other refugee groups were in need, and so more representatives were added for the Bosnian, Somali, Somali-Bantu and Vietnamese communities, and most recently, individuals from the Sudan. Hispanic services were also added in 2000, to ensure services to those whose primary language was Spanish.

Health Assist Tennessee has bilingual refugee counselors who help individuals throughout the State and can provide information and guidance about:

Most importantly, the Refugee counselors inform the immigrant and refugee populations of their rights as future American citizens. The Refugee counselors act as a liaison between the immigrant/refugee population and federal agencies/contractors. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, otherwise known as Title VI, is a federal law that protects all individuals from discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs that receive Federal assistance. This law prohibits contractors and/or state agencies from denying services and/or access to services, or using discriminatory and segregate treatment for all Limited English Proficiency (LEP) persons.

Because each language has its own set of counselors, please follow this link to our Language Contact Page