Our Story
Her Table Became Our Mission.
Before there was a Foundation, there was a woman whose life quietly taught generations of her family what resilience, compassion, faith, and unconditional hospitality looked like. We called her Cha.
Cha was a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother, but those titles only begin to describe her. She was resilient, tough, a go-getter, compassionate, and extraordinarily welcoming.
There Was Always Another Seat
A Home That Welcomed Everyone
At Cha's house, there always seemed to be someone coming or going. Over the years, her home welcomed an unlikely collection of guests: a poet, a violinist, politicians, construction workers, nephews, neighbors, people who had fallen on difficult times, and people who simply needed somewhere to stay. At times, her home felt more like a bed-and-breakfast than someone's private residence. Cha didn't care much about titles. She cared about people.
There was always another seat at Cha's table.
Emerging From the Rubble
People Are Not Defined by Their Circumstances
Cha understood hardship from an early age. After her mother left, she was raised by her father and helped care for her younger siblings. People are not defined by their circumstances, but by their ability to emerge from the rubble.
That lesson, passed from her father to Cha and from Cha to her family, shaped her life. She married young and became the mother of five children. She endured the devastating loss of one child at only four years old and became a widow before the age of 40. Her family eventually grew to include 15 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren. She became the matriarch of a large family.
Then Everything Changed
Her Body Became Increasingly Fragile. Her Spirit Did Not.
In 2000, Cha suffered a major stroke that left one side of her body paralyzed. Speaking, walking, eating, and many ordinary activities became difficult. Through therapy, determination, and extraordinary resilience, she learned to speak again, walked again, and regained the ability to feed herself. Her health, however, was forever changed and she continued to need significant assistance.
Over the years, additional serious illnesses followed, including more strokes, COPD, congestive heart failure, and lymphoma. Her muscles eventually atrophied, and during the final seven to nine years of her life she lost the ability to walk and relied on a wheelchair.
23 Years of Care
Caregivers Matter, Too.
For the 23 years following that first stroke, Cha's daughter and her son-in-love devoted their lives to caring for her. Our family saw firsthand what long-term caregiving means: appointments, medications, hospitalizations, meals, mobility, personal care, sleepless nights, worry, sacrifice, and countless ordinary acts of love.
We learned that when one person needs significant care, an entire family can become part of the caregiving journey. That experience is part of why the CHA Foundation exists today.
“Cha, ¿cómo tú estás?”
“Bien, bien.” Despite the pain, despite the wheelchair, despite strokes, heart failure, and cancer, her answer remained the same.
“Bien, bien.”
Her Circumstances Could Change, but Her Spirit Did Not.
During Cha's final years, there was a question our family could ask and almost always know her answer. Sometimes we knew she wasn't physically bien. But Cha wasn't pretending hardship didn't exist. She simply refused to let hardship have the final word. Those two little words became an expression of the woman she had always been.
Faith Through Every Season
She Loved White. She Loved Red Roses. Most of All, She Loved God and Her Family.
Cha's Catholic faith was central to her life. She loved our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and her favorite book of the Bible was Job, a story of extraordinary faith and perseverance through suffering. In 2023, after a life marked by both extraordinary challenges and extraordinary love, Cha passed away following her battle with lymphoma. Illness does not get the final chapter of her story.
The table she once opened to everyone has become our inspiration. Her resilience has become our reminder. Her family's caregiving journey has become part of our purpose. And her unwavering “Bien, bien” has become part of her legacy.
Circumstances do not determine worth. Everyone deserves dignity. Everyone deserves compassion. Everyone deserves connection. There is still a seat for you at the table.
Join Us in This Work
Our mission only moves forward because people like you choose to be part of it.