How a Charlotte YMCA program for Latino immigrant families creates community for many.
When Maria Belen Mendieta first moved to Charlotte from Ecuador in 2015, she longed for a sense of community.
While researching English speaking classes at Central Piedmont Community College, a parent told her about the Harris YMCA’s Parents as Teachers (PAT) program.
The program is only one aspect of the Y’s South Boulevard initiative, a collaborative effort with Forest Hills Church to bring programs to that corridor where many Latino families live
The South Boulevard initiative has provided a holistic way to help acclimate new Latino immigrant families to Charlotte. For them, there are parenting education classes, health and development assessments, and assistance in times of crisis.
Mendieta says it helped shape her into the parent she is today.
“Being that I was a first-time mom, it really helped and guided me in raising Miguel, my first born,” Mendieta, 29, said.
The initiative started in 2014, says Ana Butters, a community development director at the Harris YMCA, as the nonprofit discussed better ways to help Latino immigrant families in its service area.
“But we don’t prescribe services,” Butters said. “Our whole intention for this initiative is to work with the community, not for the community.”
Today, South Boulevard families are provided with monthly community workshops, English as a Second Language classes, and its PAT program.
Participating not only helped her grow as a person, it also provided a full circle moment for her, Mendieta said. She now works as an ESL-YKids associate, where she provides activities for children of the Y’s ESL students while they are in class.
“It has allowed me to apply everything I learned through Parents as Teachers to help other families,” Mendieta said.
“It changed me as a parent”
Here is a breakdown of programs in the South Boulevard initiative the Y offers to immigrant families.
ESL
The Y serves around 400 students each year in its ESL program, Butters said.
A recent community needs assessment for South Boulevard families hopes add data to build on work being done, and shape the program’s future. The Y collaborated with the Charlotte Action Research Project at University of North Carolina at Charlotte, with results set to publish next year, she said.
“We’re listening to the families and our community partners,” Butters said. “That’s what’s going to determine our chart of work next year.”
Parents as Teachers
This program serves 25 Latino families with children up to 5 years old, Pilar Perez, Associate director of family engagement at YMCA Of Greater Charlotte, said.
The national home visiting model started in 1981 for first-time parents, but the Harris Y’s program is tailored for families on South Boulevard.
Perez said families learn activities and games focused on teaching their kids motor skills, communication, and problem-solving. Each December a graduation is also held with caps and gowns.
“It changed me as a parent,” Mendieta recalled.
Through the program she learned about child development and how she could help her son become successful academically. And it was not only good for preparing her first born for school, it got her acclimated to the city.
Parent educators would use WhatsApp to share local resources with families — from vaccination clinics, to story time at the Mecklenburg County Library.
“Being a newcomer I didn’t know how to navigate the system,” Mendieta said. “I learned through a lot of those visits how to do that.”
In addition to its graduation, the program during the summer had a Fiesta Festival. Now a mother of three, Mendieta said attending the program grew her parenting confidence . The program also has monthly community workshops, teaching parents how to manage stress and finances.
“The communication with my parent educator helped me understand the differences with my kids and how to help them be successful as individuals,” Mendieta said.
She said the sense of family and community is why she would recommend the program for any South Boulevard family.
“It allows you to come to a place where the whole family can be successful,” Mendieta said.
