Latina Moms Say “Gracias!”

Imagine being in a strange country where you don’t speak the language, with a newborn baby, and very little money. Scary, isn’t it?

Now imagine that there’s a knock on the door and a friendly stranger has delivered a box of fresh, nutritious food just like you used to eat at home, for free.

That was the happy experience of 17 members of the Latino Moms Support Group. Through a unique collaboration of three agency programs - JF&CS Center for Early Relationship Support (CERS), Nutrition Services, and Family Table - these new mothers are getting food for their families, nutritional training, and the emotional support and advice they need to be successful parents.

One great thing about the program is that it is a collaboration across three different areas. We were able to harness our internal resources to meet our clients’ needs in a respectful and culturally sensitive way.

The idea for the collaboration grew out of the support group run by Jaqueline Caceres, who runs Spanish-language groups in Allston and Waltham. Jaqueline is incredibly passionate about helping these moms and makes sure they can get connected to every possible resource. She said, “This food helps so much. Sometimes they get food that their children won’t eat. When they see that this is Spanish food they’re in shock.”

By collaborating with CERS and Nutrition Services, Family Table staff developed an ethnically sensitive food order to help these immigrant moms provide much needed healthy and nutritious food for their small families. Each food order included chicken, milk, rice, beans, maseka flour, cheese, onions, broccoli, and much more.

“We’re doing the best we can for our clients nutritionally by removing barriers and helping people make good choices,” said Director of Nutrition Services Alison Books.

Working together it took our dedicated staff less than a month to set up this program, procure the food, and have it delivered to 17 households. Within two hours of the delivery, Jacqueline received four tearful phone calls from clients expressing their gratitude. When the time came for the second delivery, mothers with cars volunteered to bring food to the other moms.

The creative collaboration of these three JF&CS programs is helping struggling new moms raise happier, healthier children. In the current financial climate, JF&CS will continue to design innovative programs like this one to help our most needy citizens.