Strengthening Families and Shaping Futures, One Visit at a Time
Families First of Cabarrus County
On the side stoop of a white wooden house, a one-year-old boy named Arturo sits in his mom’s lap, his brow furrowed in concentration. He is working through a puzzle to match colors and numbers.
“Blue, Arturo! Azul!” encourages his teacher, Ivanize Villegas, alternating back and forth between English and Spanish, Arturo’s home language. Arturo slips the blue number one into place.
“Yay!” Ivanize shouts with glee. Arturo’s mom Ivone joins in, clapping and praising his effort.
Arturo looks up from his puzzle and gives the women a small smile.
Ivanize, an early learning specialist with Families First of Cabarrus County, has been working with kids and parents like Arturo and Ivone for seven years. She knows firsthand the power of early support for families: years ago, she and her children participated in the Families First ParentChild+ home-visiting program — the same program she now helps implement.
“My daughter was three years old when I started [participating in ParentChild+],” Ivanize says. “I saw the impact it had on her. By the time she arrived at preschool, she could write her name. She knew her letters and numbers, all the things she needed to succeed in pre-K.”
A nonprofit organization serves families through education
Families First of Cabarrus County was founded in 2014 by Aurora and Spencer Swain, a married couple with a relentless drive to serve kids and families in their community.
Aurora, a native of Tampico, Mexico, is an industrial engineer by training. Spencer, a native of South Carolina, is a pastor and counselor.
The two met and fell in love in the early 2000s. They were married and started a family shortly after. The Swains’ early family life revolved around faith and service to others.
Aurora’s bilingualism and Mexican background gave her a unique ability to connect with other Spanish-speaking and immigrant community members in North Carolina, and she felt motivated to help them.
“Being an immigrant is the most difficult experience I’ve lived in my life,” says Aurora. “And I came with all the privilege — a visa, an education, married.”
She recounts an experience visiting a store in Concord, NC, with her then-three-year-old daughter. She was waiting in line to check out when a woman behind her said, with no provocation, “I wish you’d go back to where you came from.”
Another customer came to Aurora’s defense, but the damage was done. “I felt so small in that moment,” says Aurora. “I left everything in my cart and just left. And the truth is that woman had no idea I was here in North Carolina helping people!”
At the time, Aurora was working as a parent educator for a different organization, serving mostly Spanish-speaking families through home visits. She recalls visiting one mom and encouraging her to send her son to pre-K so he’d be ready for kindergarten.
“I’m not sending my kid there,” the mom told Aurora. “I sent my oldest and it was not a good experience. They didn’t understand him. But if you open a preschool, I’ll send him there.”
Thus, Families First was born.
The organization started with one bilingual preschool and a small home-visiting program. Now, with more than a dozen staff, Families First operates two 5-star bilingual preschools; home-visiting programs for parents and providers to help prepare kids for preschool; ESL and GED classes; and more.
These programs work together in service of Families First’s mission: to nurture children, empower parents and strengthen families through education.
Home-visiting program helps prepare kids for preschool
For many families in Cabarrus County, formal childcare is too expensive, so kids stay home with a parent, relative or neighbor until they’re old enough to go to a public school program like NC Pre-K.
The ParentChild+ home-visiting program serves these families when their children are ages 18 to 36 months, a critical time for a child’s early learning and development.
By equipping parents and caregivers with resources to provide high-quality care and educational experiences for young children in their homes, Families First helps ensure all kids arrive to preschool ready to learn.
ParentChild+ early learning specialists like Ivanize visit families like Arturo’s twice a week, bringing educational materials like books and toys, and coaching parents to support their kids’ learning. After 96 visits, families “graduate” from ParentChild+ with a huge library of books and toys, plus the skills they need to confidently engage with their kids’ education.
Not all kids can access the resources of a formal childcare center, says Spencer. But, “through ParentChild+, we can bring the high-quality preschool to them.”
“Through ParentChild+, we can bring the high-quality preschool to them.”
— Spencer Swain, Families First of Cabarrus County
Children at Cabarrus Bilingual Preschool, one of two preschools operated by Families First. Photo by Kate Medley
At Cabarrus Bilingual Preschool, children learn in English and Spanish. Photo by Kate Medley
Children play on the playground at Cabarrus Bilingual Preschool, one of two preschools operated by Families First. Photo by Kate Medley
Children play on the playground at Cabarrus Bilingual Preschool, one of two preschools operated by Families First. Photo by Kate Medley
Aurora Swain works with a pre-K student at Cabarrus Bilingual Preschool, one of two preschools operated by Families First. Photo by Kate Medley
The library at Cabarrus Bilingual Preschool, one of two preschools operated by Families First. Photo by Kate Medley
Spencer Swain with students at Cabarrus Bilingual Preschool, one of two preschools operated by Families First. Photo by Kate Medley
Spencer Swain with students at Cabarrus Bilingual Preschool, one of two preschools operated by Families First. Photo by Kate Medley
Taking the home-visiting program to the next level
In 2021, Families First found themselves at a crossroads. They had survived the worst year of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Spencer had recently come across a shocking statistic: two-thirds of the children in Cabarrus and North Mecklenburg Counties who left a licensed childcare center during the pandemic did not return.
He and Aurora knew the ParentChild+ program could be a game-changer for these kids who were no longer in a formal childcare setting. They deserved the same educational opportunities as kids in a licensed center, and ParentChild+ could help bridge that gap.
But Families First needed resources to reach more families, so they applied for and received a Community Progress Fund grant from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation (ZSR). The ZSR grant was meant to provide a short-term infusion of funds to help Families First expand the ParentChild+ program to reach 50 families.
Families First far exceeded that goal, serving 100 families and expanding their services to improve the quality of childcare for more kids.
For example, the organization now offers a program called ParentChild+ Home-Based Child Care, which is similar to ParentChild+ but for home-based childcare providers. Through this program, childcare providers caring for larger groups of kids get the same support as ParentChild+ parents: educational tools and resources, coaching and even help to obtain a license, which then allows them to tap into new resources, such as government-subsidized tuition and food for kids.
The impacts of the ZSR grant were also felt on a personal level: Families First was able to hire Ivanize, who was working part-time in a Families First preschool, as a full-time early learning specialist, allowing her to earn more income and serve the community she loves.
Families First Early Learning Specialist Ivanize Villegas (left) works with one-year-old Arturo during a home visit. Photo by Kate Medley
Through ParentChild+, Families First staff visit parents and children twice weekly with lessons, books and educational toys. Photo by Kate Medley
Ivone and Arturo at home. Ivone says ParentChild+ is helping Arturo learn English and preparing him for preschool. Photo by Kate Medley
One-year-old Arturo celebrates his progress with Families First Early Learning Specialist Ivanize Villegas (left). Photo by Kate Medley
Supporting the whole family
After Ivanize finishes her session with Arturo and Ivone, she and Ivone reflect on Arturo’s progress.
“He’s learning his colors!” Ivone notes, and Ivanize nods. “He’s also really paying attention to the books. The last one you brought, he brings it to me to read to him.”
For Ivanize, moments like this make her job “the best work in the world.”
Aurora knows the feeling. More than seven years ago, when she first began working with Ivanize as a ParentChild+ educator, she could not have predicted that Ivanize would one day be in that role.
But in many ways, that’s what Families First is all about: doing whatever it takes to support the whole family, from participating in the earliest moments of a child’s learning to helping a mom secure her dream job. The organization even helps their preschool employees obtain degrees in early childhood education, and has helped dozens of community members, including Ivanize, become US citizens.
Families First changed Ivanize’s life, she says. “It was a blessing, a parteaguas. My dream was to work with children, and I did it! I made it. I’m helping the kids to have a better future, planting little seeds that will grow into something beautiful.”
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