A program backed by the Mexican government is filling in education gaps in the U.S.

On Saturday mornings in El Paso, Texas, during the soccer season, you can often find Segundo Barrio Futbol Club’s under-14 team playing a game not far from the U.S.- Mexico border. But soccer is not all this club has to offer, according to founder Simon Chandler.

“With the football club, you know obviously, you get to know the kids, you get to know the siblings, you get to know the families,” he said. “It kind of just seemed natural to start working with the families and seeing how we can support the families.”

By supporting the families, he means offering adults education classes. The club does this as part of the Plazas Comunitarias program, which is run by two Mexican government agencies.

“Plazas Comunitarias” roughly translates to “community gathering spaces.” The program represents an ongoing effort to offer educational opportunities to Mexican immigrants in the U.S. Mexican immigrants account for nearly 5% of the U.S. workforce and some 11 million live in this country, but only half have a high school diploma or equivalent.

Martha Velda Hernández Moreno is the director of education for one of the agencies: the Institute of Mexicans Abroad. The goal of the program is to close the education gap for Mexican immigrants in the United States, she said in Spanish.

Plazas Comunitarias offer students the chance to earn proof of educational attainment for elementary and middle school in Mexico. They also usually teach GED prep, and many offer English language classes.

Chandler said offering classes for parents alongside sports for kids is a good way to make meaningful connections with families. Twice a week, Segundo Barrio parents meet for GED classes down the street from the practice field.

“When you throw football or soccer into it, it just kind of changes the dynamic and just makes it very, very accessible,” he said.

The Plazas Comunitarias program was launched more than two decades ago, in part to improve relations between Mexico and the U.S.

But Irasema Coronado, the director of transborder studies at Arizona State University, said there’s also a financial component. Mexican immigrants in the U.S. often send money home to their families — and a GED and better English skills make it easier to find higher paying jobs.

“Many families in Mexico rely on those remittances for their survival,” she said. “If those remittances would dry up, that would be a huge challenge for the Mexican government.”

Remittances sent to Mexico from the U.S. were down in June of this year by over 16%, which experts attribute to the Trump administration’s immigration policy.

Today, there are 35 Plazas programs across Texas, including four in El Paso, according to Hernández Moreno. One is at El Paso Community College, where students are studying GED math. Most of the students are in their 40s and 50s, almost all women — including Cecilia Cisneros, who was born in Ciudad Juárez.

Cisneros dropped out of school at 15 when she got pregnant. She wants to study art, and it helps that the Mexican government is investing in her education.

“Se siente protegido por su propia gente, por su propio país,” she said. “Porque emigrar no es cosa fácil.”

El Paso Community College has been part of the program for almost 20 years. It’s funded by grants from the Mexican government, as well as a mix of other sources on the U.S. side of the border.

For students like Cisneros, Plazas Comunitarias offer a second chance. She said for people of a certain age, especially mothers, who had to focus on homemaking so that others could fly, now it is their turn to soar.

“Para nosotras, las personas ya de cierta edad que nosotros tuvimos que guardar las alas con las que volábamos para ayudar a los demás a volar,” she said. “Ahorita ya es hora de sacarlas y nunca es tarde para terminar lo que empezamos.”

Cisneros said it’s never too late to finish what you started.