At the early learning center in New Orleans where Rubmarie Pacheco's daughter attends, there's an unspoken distance between her and the teacher.
Pacheco's primary language is Spanish, and it's often difficult to ask the English-speaking staff questions to truly understand how her 3-year-old daughter fares each day.
For her son, a seventh grader, navigating the school system is easier because translation services are available and she can communicate with someone most days.
But getting her two youngest enrolled in an early education program through NOLA Public Schools consisted of a tedious and confusing application process, lengthy waitlists and a lack of support.
In the six years since Pacheco moved from Puerto Rico, she -- like many other Hispanic parents who are learning English -- frequently struggled with navigating necessary resources for their children due to cultural differences and language barriers.
To help families overcome some of those barriers, New Orleans nonprofits TrainingGrounds, the Build Initiative and Beloved Community held a first-of-its-kind resource fair tailored to Spanish-speaking families. Dozens filed into Corpus Christi Community Center to attend Friday.
"By having Spanish-speaking vendors that can share who they are, what services they offer, it makes the experience so much better for families, rather than having an interpreter," said TrainingGrounds Co-Founder Melanie Richardson.
Families shuffled between tables with their children in tow -- chatting with organizations like NOLA Public Schools, Agenda for Children and the city's new in-home newborn support program, Family Connects, while Spanish music reverberated through the speakers.
Pacheco won one of several coveted door prizes -- a brand new Graco car seat.
TrainingGrounds regularly helps connect families to resources that offer bilingual or translation services. They also raise awareness about children's mental health and developmental disabilities among a population that has historically grappled with stigma around such issues.
"Sometimes even accepting that your kid has autism can be a barrier to understanding. We can be like no, he just needs a spanking," said Lead Parenting Coordinator Daniela De Marchena De La Rosa.
Families can feel especially isolated during times of grief such as in the event of a stillbirth or infant loss.
"Just not knowing what the process is for having a funeral, being new to the country, finding information, affording a funeral when you're already in such a vulnerable place," can be a challenge, said Julie Norman with Saul's Light. The organization provides support to grieving families and those with babies in the neonatal intensive care unit.
According to Jeanne McKay, program manager and social worker at the New Orleans Children's Health Project, Spanish-speaking children and caregivers face multiple challenges in finding quality care, including limited transportation, lack of health insurance, and a chronic shortage of bilingual health professionals.
"The majority of these children have complex medical and social needs," she said.
Through a partnership with Tulane University School of Medicine, NOCHP works to address the medical, legal and social needs of immigrant children in Orleans and Jefferson parishes.
Organizers said the event came about after they noticed a growing population of Hispanic families attending TrainingGrounds' We Play Center -- a "safe space" for caregivers and children that aims to help improve social and emotional skill development.
The Hispanic population across the New Orleans metro area has more than doubled between 2000 and 2023, from 5% to 13% according to the Data Center.
"They come to us asking for information," said De Marchena De La Rosa. "They want to say, I noticed that my children are not doing this at home. Is it normal? They don't know who to talk to besides the pediatrician, and sometimes that's not enough."
Parents interested in learning more about resources and future fairs can visit the TrainingGrounds website at https://www.mytraininggrounds.org/