Santiago Martínez Family Fund

Dream in Action

Paying forward has always been our way of showing gratitude and being thankful for the good things in our lives. We volunteer in, participate with and support community organizations and events.

Our parents came to this country as migrants. A Ph.D. in Theology, my father served in the Korean War as a medic in the Army, and was then a minister for 57 years. My father-in-law, the oldest of 13, mined stone in Portland, CT while supporting his extended family. My mother, with a second-grade education done in one year, worked in convalescent homes, school cafeterias and corporate dining rooms. My mother-in-law could only sign her name with an ‘x’.

But all of our parents strongly believed in the importance of education and passed that belief to us. Because of them, George and I were moved to create a fund honoring them.

Placing their dreams in action today and in the future will play a foundational role in the life of Latino students with limited resources in our New Haven community, and it will realize our commitment to academic excellence. It is that dream that inspires us to leave a legacy of paying forward – even when we are no longer here.

— Raquel Santiago-Martínez