MERIT Expands Multilingual Access in Partnership

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MERIT Expands Multilingual Access in Partnership with Vestwell and Vermont Language Justice Project

Augusta, ME — Maine Retirement Investment Trust (MERIT) is proud to announce a major step toward program inclusion with their language expansion initiative in collaboration with Vestwell and the Vermont Language Justice Project. Designed to support Mainers who speak languages other than English, this initiative ensures that all workers—regardless of language—can understand and confidently engage with MERIT. The project includes 14 educational videos co-developed with the Vermont Language Justice Project and introduces 18 new language options on the MERIT employer and employee portals, implemented by Vestwell.

Video languages include:

American Sign Language, Arabic, English open captioned, French, Mandarin, Portuguese, Somali, Farsi, Swahili, Spanish, Russian, Kirundi, Vietnamese, and Dari.

Portal languages available include:

Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, Russian, Arabic, Yiddish, Bengali, Haitian Creole, Italian, Polish, Urdu, French, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Farsi, Armenian, and Portuguese.

“Populations speaking languages other than English have been growing in Maine. A lot of these Mainers are small business owners or work for small businesses, which means they often interact with MERIT,” says MERIT Executive Director, Elizabeth Bordowitz. “We want to ensure MERIT is easily understood by everyone and we jumped on the opportunity to co-create and establish these tools.”

“Maine is making it easier for everyone to save for the future—no matter what language they speak,” said Aaron Schumm, CEO of Vestwell. “By offering the MERIT program in multiple languages, the state is breaking down barriers and helping more people be included and supported. We’re proud to help bring this important step toward financial security to life for all Maine workers.”

Mainers with an active MERIT account now surpass 15,000 with a combined retirement savings of over $17 million. A growing program means a growing need for language services.

Alison Segar, Project Director for the Vermont Language Justice Project says, “our experience has taught us that folks learn in so many different ways, and if you cannot read in your native language, watching a video can consolidate knowledge gained over time when watched, rewatched, and shared. We applaud MERIT for taking seriously the needs of the multilingual community in Maine by investing in these videos.”

MERIT has shared the new language videos on their Youtube, Facebook, and websites. They also have reached out to local organizations that assist New Mainers or those with English as a second language. For more information on this language expansion initiative, please visit: meritsaves.org/languages

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