PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Committee of Seventy is offering its guide to How Philly Works in three new languages to help immigrants navigate the city more easily.
The Committee of Seventy collaborated with the Welcoming Center to create Spanish and Chinese versions of the How Philly Works guide. The 24-page guide provides answers to questions that can be daunting even for English speakers who need to call for help with city taxes or city services.
Committee President Lauren Cristella hopes the new guides will break down barriers.
“If you can’t access the answers in a language that you understand, our entire system of government becomes a locked door,” Cristella said.
“People don’t trust what they don’t know, and when you understand how government works, you can make it work for you,” Cristella said, adding that civic engagement is a right for every Philadelphian.
How Philly Works explains the role of elected officials, each department of city government and the city budget.
Cristella says a French version is in the works and the committee intends to publish three new guides to the school district, state government and the city’s ward system for conducting elections.
“That’s democracy in action,” Cristella said.
Guides are available here.