We Cannot Build a Better Future While Families Are Fighting to Survive

By Edgar J. Palacios

Before I am an advocate or nonprofit leader, I am a father of three.

And like so many parents right now, I feel the pressure of trying to hold everything together.

Gas prices alone have changed the way our family makes decisions. Things that once felt normal, like extracurricular activities, driving across town, or planning something fun for the weekend, now come with a mental calculation attached to them. Grocery prices continue to climb while family budgets stay tight. As a co-parent to two of my children, there are constant conversations about what we can realistically afford as our kids get older and their needs continue to grow.

I know our family is not unique.

Families across the country are being asked to do more with less. People are working hard, trying to stay afloat, and still finding themselves one unexpected expense away from crisis. For immigrant families, that pressure can feel even more overwhelming.

Many families come to this country believing in the promise of opportunity and stability, only to find systems that make survival incredibly difficult. Safe and affordable housing is harder to find. Wages are not keeping up with the cost of living. Schools are often under-resourced and unable to fully support multilingual students and immigrant families. On top of that, families are navigating fear around immigration enforcement, detention, and separation.

It feels like immigrant families are being hit from every direction.

That reality is part of what inspired the Adelante Fund.

The Adelante Fund is a small mutual aid effort focused on helping families navigate some of their hardest moments. At its core, it is simple. We try to get cash directly into the hands of families who need support so they can make it through whatever challenge is in front of them, whether that is groceries, rent, utilities, transportation, or another emergency.

I do not pretend that this solves the larger problem. It does not.

In many ways, it is a band-aid. The structural issues impacting immigrant families are much bigger than one community fund. But when a parent is trying to figure out how to keep food on the table or make rent that month, immediate help matters.

Sometimes dignity looks like being able to buy groceries without panic.

Sometimes hope looks like enough gas money to get to work.

And sometimes care looks like being able to ask for help without being judged.

What has been most disheartening to me is watching families struggle in a country with so much wealth and abundance. We continue to prioritize individualism and profit over people. Meanwhile, there are very few places where immigrant families can turn for support without fear, shame, or barriers attached to it.

I believe we have lost sight of something important: our responsibility to each other.

As adults, it is our responsibility to create the conditions for children to thrive. If we fail to invest in children and families now, we are failing our collective future. Advocacy for children cannot just live in speeches or mission statements. It has to show up in real life. In our policies. In our schools. In our neighborhoods. In the way we respond when families are struggling.

Because the truth is simple: children cannot thrive when their families are barely surviving.

I still believe in community. I still believe people want to help one another. And I still believe we are capable of building something better than what we are experiencing right now.

That is what the Adelante Fund represents to me.

Not charity.

Not politics.

Just people choosing not to look away.

Edgar Palacios is a father of three and believes community partnership is the key to moving the needle for Kansas City’s Latinx students. As founder of the Latinx Education Collaborative, he relies on community engagement and empowerment to amplify the voices of students, teachers, and families. Latinx Education Collaborative’s political arm, Revolución Educativa (RevEd) –an NPU partner and Parent Power Collective member–advocates for policies that help engage Latinx teachers and families and remove barriers to their participation in the education system. With community power at its core, RevEd believes that the only way to effect positive change and improve education outcomes is to come together to give communities the tools, resources, and support needed to build sustained collective power in Kansas City. 

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ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARENTS UNION
With more than 1,800 affiliated parent organizations in all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, the National Parents Union is the united, independent voice of modern American families. We channel the power of parents into powerful policies that improve the lives of children, families and communities across the United States. https://nationalparentsunion.org/