WASHINGTON, N.C. (WNCT) — The City of Washington is making sure to celebrate its Hispanic population as well as make sure they’re giving them resources to be successful.

Meet Abigail Cabrera, a Latino community outreach coordinator, who is doing just that.

“I am a first-generation, Latino living in the United States, my parents are both from Mexico,” Cabrera said. “Their main focus was to provide a safe place for, you know, for us to get education, create a good future for ourselves, and kind of just call the United States our home.”

WNCT’s Hispanic Heritage Month special

Now, Abigail is making sure people in Washington have those same opportunities.

“My main focus is to assist the city and helping the Latino community kind of know about the different services that the city offers,” Cabrera said. “Like the health services, we have some local businesses and we have a legal service who is starting to push out for our Latino community.”

Her position started as a translator for the city’s police department and has quickly evolved into much more.

“Translating city documents and helping our community partners, for example, the library I do a monthly story time, bilingual story time for toddlers, it’s from ages zero to five. And we just read back and forth in Spanish from Spanish to English,” Cabrera said.

It’s important work because sometimes it can be challenging for the Latino population.

“I think it’s important for people who do have that language barrier to see that there’s someone, not only that looks like them, but sounds like them, you know, in the role that can help to start initiatives or do something in the community for them,” Cabrera said.

It’s a city-supported effort that Cabrera said she’s proud to be a part of.

“I don’t think that this role could be successful, without there being people who truly believe in, you know, being a more inclusive city, and including our Latino population,” Cabrera said. “It’s a really nice place to call your home, you have the country, you have the water, you know, and I think now with the city finding new ways to be more inclusive, it’s just, it’s a beautiful place to, you know, feel welcomed.”

One of her tasks was to plan the cit’s first Hispanic Heritage Month festival, slated for October 7 at Festival Park in Washington.