My Mom's Dream - Fund to reunite families
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Para leer esta historia EN ESPAÑOL
My mother, Said (Sa-eed) Martinez Carrasquel, passed away on October 9th, 2021 after a long battle with COVID. Not the type to give up easily, she overcame COVID, but was unable to withstand a subsequent fungal infection of her lungs. She is missed incredibly by her daughter, family, friends and fellow church members. Today on October 29th, 2021 she would be turning 61 years old.
My mother was incredibly kind and generous with the little that she had. Whenever she had food, clothes, or time spare she would give it to whoever needed it. She served the community for over 10 years as a senior center program director, and was a minister in her church where she attended for over 25 years.
If I asked her whether I should donate money to a large non-profit like Salvation Army or Goodwill she would tell me, “No, I doubt that money would end up in the hands of people who need it. Let’s give it to someone ourselves.”
For this reason, I want to honor her memory and legacy of service by starting a fund myself - one that helps people reunite with their loved ones after years of being apart.
If for reasons financial inability, political strife, or unfortunate circumstances you have not been able to see your family in over 4 years please reach out to me. If you know anyone like this, please share this information with them to get the word out.
Instagram: @smilesta_k
Email: [email redacted]
phone: (650) [phone redacted]
Why would someone leave their family behind?
Said Martinez grew up in the slums of Caracas, along with her 3 siblings. She worked hard to save enough money to move her family out of that slum into their first apartment in the San Jose district of Caracas, Venezuela. Having graduated with a business administration degree, she went on to pursue law and became an attorney. At age 31, she decided to leave her parents, siblings, friends, career and country behind to give her only daughter the opportunity to become an American and chase the American Dream.
Thanks to her decision, we were able to earn a much better quality of life and avoid the financial ruin of Venezuela caused by its socialist authoritarian government in 2003. While I am eternally grateful, it is lonely to be so far from my family.
Why isn’t it easy to see them?
In our case it was easy at first. We would travel there every summer, but then the country started changing. The economy was destroyed and has never recovered, Venezuela became the murder and kidnapping capital of the world, and the political environment became anti-American.
My mom was kidnapped at gunpoint from the airport, and left with nothing but her passport on the side of a road. To date, I have not been able to get a visa for myself to enter the country because of this I could not visit my grandmother when she was dying.
There are many people who have more difficult circumstances than mine, and face harsher realities everyday. I personally know people who have been dreaming of the day they get to reunite with their family for over 15 years. Years pass by, and they miss out on countless births, weddings, birthdays and even funerals.
What prevents families from seeing each other?
Unaffordable visa and passport fees
Unaffordable airfare
Lack of transportation
Visa wait times
Restrictions on travel outside of the US
Restrictions on travel into certain countries by US citizens
Forfeiting legal status here in the US
Traveling there is extremely dangerous (kidnapping risk)
How will I know my money is being used to help people like this?
The fund will personally pay for expenses that will reunite families who have not physically met in over 4 years.
Their stories will be posted on the fund’s social media (coming soon)
I will be registering a non-profit entity to house the funds in a separate account (coming soon)
Thank you for reading this far!
Your kind support and generosity is much appreciated.
Wishing you peace and continued success,
Ashley Martinez
My mother, Said (Sa-eed) Martinez Carrasquel, passed away on October 9th, 2021 after a long battle with COVID. Not the type to give up easily, she overcame COVID, but was unable to withstand a subsequent fungal infection of her lungs. She is missed incredibly by her daughter, family, friends and fellow church members. Today on October 29th, 2021 she would be turning 61 years old.
My mother was incredibly kind and generous with the little that she had. Whenever she had food, clothes, or time spare she would give it to whoever needed it. She served the community for over 10 years as a senior center program director, and was a minister in her church where she attended for over 25 years.
If I asked her whether I should donate money to a large non-profit like Salvation Army or Goodwill she would tell me, “No, I doubt that money would end up in the hands of people who need it. Let’s give it to someone ourselves.”
For this reason, I want to honor her memory and legacy of service by starting a fund myself - one that helps people reunite with their loved ones after years of being apart.
If for reasons financial inability, political strife, or unfortunate circumstances you have not been able to see your family in over 4 years please reach out to me. If you know anyone like this, please share this information with them to get the word out.
Instagram: @smilesta_k
Email: [email redacted]
phone: (650) [phone redacted]
Why would someone leave their family behind?
Said Martinez grew up in the slums of Caracas, along with her 3 siblings. She worked hard to save enough money to move her family out of that slum into their first apartment in the San Jose district of Caracas, Venezuela. Having graduated with a business administration degree, she went on to pursue law and became an attorney. At age 31, she decided to leave her parents, siblings, friends, career and country behind to give her only daughter the opportunity to become an American and chase the American Dream.
Thanks to her decision, we were able to earn a much better quality of life and avoid the financial ruin of Venezuela caused by its socialist authoritarian government in 2003. While I am eternally grateful, it is lonely to be so far from my family.
Why isn’t it easy to see them?
In our case it was easy at first. We would travel there every summer, but then the country started changing. The economy was destroyed and has never recovered, Venezuela became the murder and kidnapping capital of the world, and the political environment became anti-American.
My mom was kidnapped at gunpoint from the airport, and left with nothing but her passport on the side of a road. To date, I have not been able to get a visa for myself to enter the country because of this I could not visit my grandmother when she was dying.
There are many people who have more difficult circumstances than mine, and face harsher realities everyday. I personally know people who have been dreaming of the day they get to reunite with their family for over 15 years. Years pass by, and they miss out on countless births, weddings, birthdays and even funerals.
What prevents families from seeing each other?
Unaffordable visa and passport fees
Unaffordable airfare
Lack of transportation
Visa wait times
Restrictions on travel outside of the US
Restrictions on travel into certain countries by US citizens
Forfeiting legal status here in the US
Traveling there is extremely dangerous (kidnapping risk)
How will I know my money is being used to help people like this?
The fund will personally pay for expenses that will reunite families who have not physically met in over 4 years.
Their stories will be posted on the fund’s social media (coming soon)
I will be registering a non-profit entity to house the funds in a separate account (coming soon)
Thank you for reading this far!
Your kind support and generosity is much appreciated.
Wishing you peace and continued success,
Ashley Martinez
Organizer
Ashley Martinez
Organizer
Jersey City, NJ