IT STARTED WITH ONE.
One mother. Three children. And a future without a guarantee.
My mom built the foundation.
My name is Francisco, and La Fuerza de Uno began long before it had a name. It started with her.
I was raised by my mom, Ana Rosa, a single mother who gave her children everything she could, even when financial resources were limited. She taught me resilience before I understood what the word meant. She showed me what sacrifice looked like, what it meant to keep going when life was difficult, and what it meant to believe in my future before I could fully see it for myself.
College felt impossible from where I started: undocumented, low income, and first generation raised by a single mother who did not speak English. Yet through opportunity, kind people who opened doors for me, hard work, and a whole lot of grit, my path eventually led to Harvard, where I graduated in 2013 with a degree in psychology.
I have never viewed that accomplishment as mine alone. Every opportunity I received was built on the foundation my mom created first, a foundation built through her sacrifices.
OPPORTUNITY SHOULD NOT REQUIRE A MIRACLE.
RESILIENCE ALONE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY TUITION.
My story taught me something I’ve carried with me my entire life: talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not.
There are students growing up in single-parent and single-guardian households who are ambitious, capable, curious, and ready to build remarkable and impactful lives. Many are also watching one parent stretch every dollar, work exhausting hours, care for a family, and make impossible choices just to keep moving forward.
Those circumstances can create extraordinary resilience. But resilience alone should not have to pay tuition.
La Fuerza de Uno was created to put tangible support behind students who have already learned how to create possibility from limited resources. The scholarship will not solve every financial barrier a student faces, but $5,000 can make the next step more possible, and sometimes possibility is exactly where a different future can begin.
Her strength lives forward.
My mamá raised us on her own, but she built a village around my sisters and me.
La Fuerza de Uno is my way of doing the same.
The scholarship’s ongoing fund was created in her memory, and every student supported through it will become, in some small way, part of her legacy too.
My hope is that what began with one mother’s determination can become a community of people choosing to stand behind the next student.
Raised by one. Backed by many.