No mother should have to bury her son

Hello, my name is Francisco Villegas, and I am fundraising for my brother Joshua Villegas's memorial and funeral expenses. 

My brother Joshua with his beautiful smile was a very personable and loving human being. Unfortunately, he didn't have access to the same high-quality experiences in school as I did. And he never learned how to read. This lack of access to a high-quality education severely impacted the opportunities he had access to. 

When he struggled with homelessness, it was a huge struggle to find him help - it wasn't available to him because he and my family lacked the resources to get him access to services that only some (people with the financial resources) have access to. 

Joshua was robbed at knifepoint and stabbed in Highland, CA and succumbed to his injuries at the hospital shortly thereafter on August 18th. Joshua was a father of 4 beautiful children. 

My family has lived in the vicious cycle of poverty for generations. I am the first to attend and graduate from college, become a teacher, and now an education leader and keynote speaker. While some family members are following a path similar to mine, it's important to note that it takes multiple generations to break the cycle of poverty as a family. And we can really use your help right now. My grandfather also passed away three weeks ago, and there are very few people in my family with savings accounts or any disposable income because most struggle just to survive. That is why I am reaching out for help. 

I have never asked for help with money because I believe I hold the power to overcome anything that life throws my way, but my heart is broken right now and realize that I need to move past my pride and ask for the help we need as a family to get through these challenging times without money being a distraction that gets in the way of our family being together and focusing on celebrating our brother's life and beautiful human sipirt. And of course, helping my mother through one of the most painful experiences of her life. 

 Your support means so much to my family and I.