Riya Virdi
I am 4th year medical student at UBC and Co-Founder of Volentia Healthcare Translation, a nonprofit built to address language barriers faces by immigrants and newcomers navigating Canada's healthcare system. Volentia has grown into an organization with 150+ volunteers providing free interpretation across 22 languages. Alongside my medical studies and clinical rotations, I hope to lead Volentia's expansion across British Columbia and beyond — bringing together youth volunteers, community partners, and healthcare providers to make culturally safe, language-accessible care a reality for every patient.
Reach Us in Your Language: Multilingual Accessibility for Volentia
Volentia Healthcare Translation is a youth-led initiative working to reduce language barriers and improve access to healthcare information for multilingual communities. Through the Sprout Ideas Fellowship, the project will create accessible, multilingual educational videos that help patients better understand and navigate the Canadian healthcare system. Working alongside community partners and multilingual youth volunteers, Volentia aims to provide culturally responsive health information while empowering young people to use their language skills and lived experiences to advance health equity in their communities.
https://volentia.ca/
About this Project
Communities Served
My project will involve and/or impact the following communities:
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
When it comes to community impact projects, the UN has created 17 Sustainable Development Goals. These are the Sustainable Development Goals associated with my project.
How the project works
Our team will launch a multilingual phone booking line and redesigned booking forms in 22 languages, produce volunteer-filmed tutorial videos distributed across TikTok and YouTube, and promote services through multicultural media and community partners — making Volentia's free healthcare interpretation accessible to every patient, in their own language.
Project Impact
This project removes the language and digital barriers that prevent Metro Vancouver's newcomer and BIPOC communities from accessing free healthcare interpretation. By launching a multilingual phone line, redesigned booking forms in 22 languages, and volunteer-made tutorial videos promoted through multicultural media, we will expand Volentia's reach to thousands of patients who currently cannot access our services — ensuring language is never a barrier to care.
Project Mission
Our mission is to rebuild the front door of Volentia's services so that every patient — regardless of English proficiency or digital literacy — can access free healthcare interpretation in their own language. We will achieve this through three goals: launching a multilingual phone booking system, producing volunteer-made tutorial videos in 22 languages, and promoting our services through multicultural media and community partners.
Project Team
Youth-led team of 150+ multilingual volunteers, medical students, and community health advocates.
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