Maria's Pancreatic Cancer Treatment and Legal Fees

[Update]

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It’s with heavy hearts that we share that our mom passed away last night. Despite that, we are happy that she was surrounded by her family in her last moments - her last wish that we were able to fulfill. She is survived by her six children and husband. 

During these long and draining weeks with our mom, we have had little luck with the immigration process to get our dad back, but we are not giving up on him. Any additional financial support from friends or family will go towards continuing paying for immigration legal fees, as well as supporting us 6 siblings. Natalie and Alex left their newly established lives in Alaska and Colorado to return home for our mom and Mauricio will be taking Spring semester off from college to continue being present and helping his sisters support the family. We appreciate your continued support for our family. 

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Maria Moreno is an upstanding mother, educator, and community advocate, amongst other things. After suffering these past several months with extreme abdominal pain, she was diagnosed two weeks ago with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. With costs from hospital admittance, medication, and external consults for treatment, we are asking for help to cover her medical expenses.

For those who do not know about our family dynamic, our father was deported 8 years ago. We have been very patient with his immigration process, but as we know, that process is long, slow, and furthermore, expensive. Since the deportation of our father, our mother has been the sole provider not just for her 6 kids but for our Dad as well. Due to her health developments, she has not been able to work which is why we are also asking for any donations to help support our family and push his legal process forward so that he can finally be back home with his wife after 8 long years.

My mom is unique. For her, there is no limit to how much she could help out others or positively impact a community. At school, she would be seen at all hours of the day, staying late for tutoring, teaching Saturday school, summer school, and helping teach kids how to care for plants as she filled up empty school planters with flowers. Her initiative and drive helped her remain passionate about teaching and helped shape Bright Elementary in a positive way.

Not just shaping communities at school, my mom also has a leadership role as a community advocate in South Central Los Angeles. My Mom, along with Dad, created soccer teams to engage the neighborhood's youth. While creating and running these teams, she worked with Parks and Recreation to expand resources and space for training spaces and fields to use. For consecutive summers, she also worked with city employees for setting up programming for Summer Night Lights - a summer program created to engage communities while keeping youth off the streets. My mom loves this neighborhood. Like all things she loves, she dedicates time and energy to make it positive and something she'd be proud of leaving as a legacy. Legacies that she'd be happy to look back on with my dad.

When she wasn’t taking care of us kids, working with her students, or advocating for the youth in our community, she was dedicating her time to the Catholic Church. As a religious woman, she has always been passionate about giving back and sharing the blessings that God has given her. She spent her evenings volunteering as a Confirmation and Catechist instructor and always sought out for more ways to help. My Mom is a selfless woman who has dedicated much of her health, time, and financial blessings to the Catholic Church. During this time of need, we are asking for that in return. If you are religious or spiritual in any capacity, we ask that you please keep our Mom in your prayers.

Any and all contributions would be extremely helpful and greatly appreciated.

Thank you and God bless,

Moreno Kids

[En Español]

María Moreno es una madre, educadora y defensora de la comunidad destacada, entre otras cosas. Después de sufrir estos últimos meses con un dolor abdominal extremo, hace dos semanas le diagnosticaron cáncer de páncreas en etapa 4. Con los costos de ingreso hospitalario, medicación y consultas externas para el tratamiento, estamos pidiendo ayuda para cubrir sus gastos médicos.

Para aquellos que no conocen nuestra dinámica familiar, nuestro padre fue deportado hace 8 años. Hemos sido muy pacientes con su proceso de inmigración, pero como sabemos, ese proceso es largo, lento y costoso. Desde la deportación de nuestro padre, nuestra madre ha sido la única proveedora no solo de sus 6 hijos, sino también de nuestro padre. Debido a la evolución de su salud, no ha podido trabajar, por lo que también estamos solicitando donaciones para ayudar a mantener a nuestra familia e impulsar su proceso legal para que finalmente pueda regresar a casa con su esposa después de 8 largos años.

Mi mamá es única. Para ella, no hay límite en cuanto a cuánto podría ayudar a otros o impactar positivamente en una comunidad. En la escuela, la veían a todas horas del día, se quedaba hasta tarde para dar tutoría, enseñaba en la escuela los sábados, en la escuela de verano ayudaba a enseñar a los niños a cuidar las plantas mientras llenaba las macetas vacías de la escuela con flores. Su iniciativa e impulso la ayudaron a seguir apasionada por la enseñanza y ayudaron a dar forma a Bright Elementary de una manera positiva.

No solo formando comunidades en la escuela, mi madre también tiene un papel de liderazgo como defensora de la comunidad en el centro sur de Los Ángeles. Mi mamá, junto con papá, crearon equipos de fútbol para involucrar a los jóvenes del vecindario. Mientras creaba y dirigía estos equipos, trabajó con Parques y Recreación para expandir los recursos y el espacio para los espacios de capacitación y los campos para usar. Durante veranos consecutivos, también trabajó con empleados de la ciudad para configurar la programación de Summer Night Lights, un programa de verano creado para involucrar a las comunidades y mantener a los jóvenes fuera de las calles. A mi mamá le encanta este barrio. Como todas las cosas que ama, dedica tiempo y energía para hacerlo positivo y algo de lo que estaría orgullosa de dejar como legado. Legados que ella estaría feliz de recordar con mi padre.

Cuando no estaba cuidándonos a nosotros, no trabajaba con sus estudiantes o defendía a los jóvenes de nuestra comunidad, dedicaba su tiempo a la Iglesia Católica. Como mujer religiosa, siempre le ha apasionado devolver y compartir las bendiciones que Dios le ha dado. Pasó sus tardes como voluntaria como instructora de Confirmación y Catequista y siempre buscó más formas de ayudar. Mi mamá es una mujer que ha dedicado gran parte de su salud, tiempo y bendiciones financieras a la Iglesia Católica. Durante este tiempo de necesidad, lo estamos pidiendo a cambio. Si eres religioso o espiritual en alguna capacidad, te pedimos que mantengas a nuestra mamá en tus oraciones.

Todas y cada una de las contribuciones serán de gran ayuda y serán muy apreciadas.

Gracias y Dios te bendiga,

Los Hijos Morenos