Advocacy is our Passion, Community is our Heart, and Excellence is our Goal.
Mission Statement
Our mission at Access Interpreting Services INC is to support district stakeholders through excellent customer service. We strive to engage in timely, accurate, and respectful communication. We aim to hire and mentor qualified sign language interpreters.
We endeavor for high standards of service for both our consumers and interpreters. This superior standard of quality is vital to our mission and success as a small business. Our purpose can be encapsulated in three words: Advocacy. Community. Excellence. "A.C.E”
Advocacy.
We are committed to empowering our Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. When the need arises, we also advocate for increased access. We believe the cornerstone to this advocacy is education. We strive to educate our consumers by providing resources and knowledge concerning their individual responsibility to provide interpreting accommodations according to federal mandates.
Second, we are committed to providing advocacy for our interpreters. As a working professional interpreter who has been there herself, Jacquelyn (Founder of Access Interpreting Services) is able to identify with the lack of advocacy for working interpreters. Many new interpreters graduating and entering the field are faced with what is commonly known as 'the gap’. Their degree tells them they are now qualified, but their skills, experience, and exposure to the actual interpreting settings is still lacking.
One of our goals at Access Interpreting Services is to alleviate ‘the gap’ through mentorship opportunities and continued professional training. Quality internships are our priority and are greatly encouraged.
Community.
Community is precious to us. We believe in investing in the lives of others around us.
We give back to our local Deaf and Hard of Hearing community whenever the opportunity arises. This is often accomplished through pro bono services, community projects, and donation.
Access is also vested in its interpreters, ensuring that its Deaf and Hard of Hearing community receives quality interpreting services.
Excellence.
Not every interpreter is qualified for every setting. Professional sign language interpreters adhere to their own ethical Code of Professional Conduct (CPC). The CPC consists of 7 tenets with corresponding guiding principles and illustrative behaviors. Among these 7 tenets outlined, that of tenet 2.0 PROFESSIONALISM strictly warns interpreters to “possess the professional skills and knowledge…” for that specific setting.
Access Interpreting Services does not take this ethical code of conduct lightly. Every setting is unique and has its own set of specific linguistic demands, interpreting skills, and knowledge. Every Deaf and Hard of Hearing consumer is just as unique with specific language modalities and individual paralinguistic demands.
Therefore, interpreting requests received by Access Interpreting Services will only be filled by the interpreter(s) we feel is most qualified for that specific setting. In following this standard of excellence, our standard business norms and interpreting practices are derived from data and resources adopted by our professional organizational body, RID (Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf).
Jacquelyn Moore
Founder & President
Jacquelyn has over 20 years of professional interpreting experience. As a young adult, she became acutely aware of the Deaf community and the need to promote and provide equal access to communication. While pursuing her B.A. in American Sign Language, Jacquelyn explored the depths of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing’s (HoH) cultural and linguistic needs. She quickly recognized a need for language access which was compounded by the lack of qualified interpreters. She took action in the summer of 2008, the year Access Interpreting Services was founded. Since then, Access has been serving the Deaf and HoH community both locally (Kings Mountain, NC) and throughout both North and South Carolina.
HERE TO SERVE
We are a small business, but our heart isn’t in the money side. We have a passion to serve the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community by providing equal access in every setting. We also serve the hearing community, providing information and a professional service to assist in accomplishing their own goals.
ACCESS was established to fill a huge need in our area -- Equal Access. As an interpreter myself, I know what it is like to work for an agency that prioritizes the bottom dollar; and it disgusts me. In their efforts to make a quick buck, the needs of the Deaf and hard of hearing are being completely ignored. In a society where emphasis is placed on inclusivity and diversity, the Deaf are still being oppressed and excluded. Their rights to access are continually violated. I cannot imagine how frustrating it is to show up for an appointment only to learn that an interpreter has not been provided even after requesting one months in advance! Or to finally be provided an on-site-interpreter and find they are not fluent and unskilled! This happens to the Deaf community on a daily basis. Everyone deserves access, but not everyone knows what access should look like -- we are that model. We are ACCESS Interpreting Services of the Carolinas INC.
-Jacquelyn Moore, Founder and President
Our Interpreters
-
Staff Interpreters
Our staff interpreters are vetted personally by qualified and certified interpreters to ensure they have the range of skills necessary for all sorts of interpreting situations. ACCESS takes special care in ensuring they have the knowledge and skills, as well as continued skill development. While all our staff interpreters are licensed, ACCESS also provides training and mentorship for their staff interpreters and hopes to have the whole team nationally certified by 2023.
-
Independent Contractors
ACCESS Contracts with numerous interpreters all over North Carolina and South Carolina. These interpreters have a range of abilities, skill sets, and certifications. ACCESS relies on independent contractors to supply interpreting services when the staff interpreting team is fully booked. As a small business, our IC’s are cherished as vital team members. Interested in contracting with us? Click the Careers tab to apply!
Our Staff Interpreters
-
Hannah Joy Warran
Hannah graduated from Blue Ridge Community College in 2018 with her degree in Interpreter Education and at the top of her class. She transferred to Gardner-Webb University where she graduated with her B.A. in American Sign Language with a minor in Interpreting. She began as an intern with ACCESS back in 2019 and currently serves as a Staff Interpreter and Media Developer. Hannah plans take the National Interpreter’s Certification knowledge test in spring of 2022 and hopes to take the Expressive exam by 2023. She specializes in medical and religious interpreting.
-
Jessica Masengill
Jessica graduated from Western Piedmont Community College with her degree in Interpreter Education in 2019. She also previously went to school for her Certified Nurse’s Assistant and has a love for medical interpreting. She is currently being mentored and hopes to soon be a qualified medical interpreter.
Meet Our Administrative Staff
-
Wendy Houser
DIRECTOR OF INTERPRETING SERVICES
Wendy was hiring in December of 2019, initially to only assist with scheduling. Since then, her role has elevated to Director of Interpreting Services.
She is also a co-founder of ASL ACE, inc, a 501 (C)3 that advocates for access, promotes community, and provides education that benefits the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community and its interpreting communities.
Currently, she lives in Charlotte, NC with her family. Wendy says that it is her faith and ACCESS that has helped her find a balance in the struggle of being a single mom of three while also building two organizations side by side with Jacquelyn. Her and her family spend most of their free time at the baseball field or enjoying the outdoors.
-
Denise Turner
SCHEDULING TEAM
Denise has been with Access since 2022 and has been a vital part of the scheduling department with a focus on the educational and religious assignments. She was born in Texas but moved to North Carolina back in 2009. Now she is a single mom of four little girls.
-
Shaye Swofford
SCHEDULING TEAM
Kaeley “Shaye” Swofford is part of the Scheduling Team here at ACCESS. She graduated from Clemson University in 2018 with a B.A. in American Sign Language and completed the K-12 Educational Interpreting Program. Drawing from extensive experience in the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community, she strives to provide equal access to all individuals through a comprehensive approach. She possesses significant experience working alongside and building close relationships with interpreters throughout her professional history. She takes pride in her role at ACCESS as it allows her to serve the Deaf community with joy and enthusiasm!
-
Jamie Darabaris
ACCOUNTANT
A.C.E.
We specialize in sign language interpreting. Many spoken language companies add sign language interpreting on, but have no connection to the Deaf community or realize the unique nature of working with those who are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing. We know our Deaf community and are able to identify their individual accommodation needs. We recognize their identity as a minority culture, unifying its members through their visual language and shared values in a hearing dominated world. We understand what access should look like and the value of continuity of care.
Advocacy is our Passion, Community is our Heart, and Excellence is our Goal.