Released on: December 12, 2007, 1:28 pm

Press Release Author: MasterWord Services, Inc.

Industry: Consumer Services

Press Release Summary: Houston Housing Authority\'s essentials of disaster relief
from the Bellerive apartment fire included food and shelter, but also at the top of
the list was MasterWord language assistance.

Press Release Body: On the morning of November 26, 2007, the Bellerive high-rise
apartments caught fire creating a four-alarm nightmare for over 200 residents and a
significant challenge for the Houston Housing Authority.

The essentials of disaster relief from the Bellerive apartment fire included food
and shelter, but also at the top of the list was language assistance. The Houston
Housing Authority was challenged to communicate efficiently with many of the 200+
evacuees from the apartment fire due to a language barrier. Approximately 50% of the
residents of the Bellerive Apartments speak little or no English. Aside from losing
their homes, residents had to deal with the legal aspects of being transferred to
one of three alternate locations, claiming their belongings, and completing lots of
paperwork for assistance.

The Houston Housing Authority called upon MasterWord Services to provide
interpreters and translations for multiple languages including Spanish, Mandarin
Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean to facilitate communication between HHA staff and
their evacuees. MasterWord dispatched over a dozen interpreters within two hours
after receiving the emergency request from the Houston Housing Authority.
Interpreters were immediately sent to three temporary relocation sites around
Houston to assist the evacuees with the aftermath.

"Responding to emergency requests in a time of crisis is familiar territory for
MasterWord. Between our health care, community, and legal work, 20% of our requests
are handled on an emergency basis. These are situations that require an interpreter
immediately to ensure the situation is handled in the most appropriate manner. Clear
communication is vital. It's why MasterWord is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week, and offers one of the largest pools of qualified resources in the nation,"
said Jorge U. Ungo Director of MasterWord's Interpretation Division.

Relocation documents and other necessary legal paperwork were sent to MasterWord for
translation into different languages to be translated immediately. "Written and oral
translation played a critical role in allowing Housing Authority staff and service
providers to clearly communicate with all residents in order to quickly stabilize
and relocate them to temporary housing," said Steve Mikelman, the Houston Housing
Authority's Chief of Staff.

"The evacuees were huddled in groups trying to figure out what to do after the
devastation of losing their homes. An elderly woman was in tears because she could
not understand what she was to do next. She was very appreciative to see someone
there that could communicate in her language," stated one of the interpreters after
working a long day at the relocation headquarters.

Over 150 languages are spoken in the homes of HISD and over 30% of the Houston
population speaks a language other than English in the home. About half a million
residents of Houston speak little or no English, and the top languages spoken are
Spanish, Vietnamese, Mandarin Chinese, French, and Urdu. Masterword Services has
been providing language solutions to business, government, and non-profits since
1993. In its 15 years of service, MasterWord has assisted thousands of Houston
residents as well as international visitors in communicating at health care
facilities, courthouses, and with other government entities.

MasterWord Services is a leading provider of industry-specific language solutions.
Based in Houston, Texas, MasterWord Services is the leading provider of on-site
interpreters in the state. MasterWord has worked in over 100 languages in 2007 while
providing solutions for bilingual staff screening, interpretation, translation, and
language training.

"Being responsive to the needs of our clients is our number-one priority and is the
reason why so many leading concerns rely on MasterWord for their multilingual
communication needs" stated Mila Green, president and founder of MasterWord
Services.

As the Houston Housing Authority works on rebuilding the Bellerive Apartments, the
evacuees have begun work on rebuilding what was lost from their lives. "The
interpreters were ALL excellent and really knew how to handle this difficult
situation. I can certainly vouch for MasterWord!" Cheryl Rivers with the Houston
Housing Authority remarked.

About the Houston Housing Authority - http://www.hach.org

About MasterWord Services - http://www.masterword.com

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Web Site: http://

Contact Details: Yen Chang, MasterWord Services,
303 Stafford Suite 204, Houston, TX 77079 Tel (281) 589-0810, Fax (281) 589-1104
media@masterword.com