When the Contreras family began their immigration journey in July 2019, they never imagined that six years later, they would be celebrating their daughter Fabiana’s First Holy Communion in Little Rock.
The Contreras family — father Franklin, 51, mother Jogrenan Roa, 44, son Fabricio, 18, and daughter Fabiana, 9, were originally from Venezuela.
Through an interpreter, Franklin said, “It all began in July 2019, when the impact of the economic and social crises in our country, Venezuela, was strongest. We made the decision to migrate, to take a new course in search of a better quality of life.
“From there, thanks to the help of a Venezuelan friend who lives in Costa Rica, who provided all the possible collaboration, Jogrenan left the country first. There was an endless number of dreams, illusions, sadness, but also new hopes began, as she left behind her career as a teacher of more than 16 years in the Venezuelan Ministry of Education.”
Once Jogrenan arrived in Costa Rica, she began working hard to help the rest of her family make it through the legal process from Venezuela to Costa Rica.
“Thanks to the help of Fabiana’s godfather, a very noble and charitable man, who extended his hand for the family to unite, finally, in February 2020, after a long journey, the family group (father, brother, daughter and maternal grandmother) managed to leave Venezuela for Costa Rica,” Franklin said. “To be able to bring everyone together is a miracle and a blessing.”
From 2020 to August 2024, the family lived in Costa Rica — the children studied while Franklin and Jogrenan worked.
“We lived to pay rent and take care of basic housing and personal expenses, but nevertheless, we always lived humbly and clung to God’s help,” Franklin said.
At the beginning of 2024, friends of the family told them about a United Nations resettlement program called Safe Migration, which the family applied for, dreaming of a better future and trusting that it would be God who would decide whether or not their journey would move forward.
“It was an endless number of meetings, talks, documents requested, which led to the approval of our family’s relocation in the United States,” Franklin said. “This approval was granted with all the protocols of the law.”
The family had been in contact with members of Catholic Charities in Little Rock to prepare them to resettle into their new life. Catholic Charities continues to help the Contreras family even today.
“When we arrived in Arkansas, we felt nervous because we did not know anyone, the language was not mastered, and we did not know where we were going to go,” Franklin said. “Even so, we were more than blessed by the help of the Catholic Charities organization. Their support, guidance, help, being aware in a human way of each of the members of the family — that was what made us feel comfortable and fulfilled in this beautiful and blessed country.”
The Contreras family said that while there have been innumerable challenges, “everything has been faced fruitfully.”
“It must be emphasized and recognized that nothing … would have been given without God’s help. Our faith is from our families, who instilled in us a Catholic religious teaching, where God is above all things. We are in God’s hands and will continue to be, so everything will continue to go well, with blind faith that everything will be better in the days to come,” he said.
Franklin said it was the family’s faith that had brought them safely to America, and so they wanted to continue their faith lives after arriving in the U.S. in August.
“That’s why our faith led us to locate Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, thanks to the help of Ethan Harris (former case manager for the Refugee Resettlement Office of Catholic Charities) … who gave us the location of the church,” he said. “As the family attended there, I never imagined meeting so many good-hearted people who, with great love, opened the doors for Fabiana Sofía to continue her preparation for her First Communion. It was never thought that the girl of the house would make her First Communion in the United States, but that is how God arranged it.”
With five members of Catholic Charities of Arkansas staff in attendance, Fabiana received her First Communion at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Little Rock.
Claire Hollenbeck, resource coordinator for the Refugee Resettlement Office, said. “On Sunday, May 4, Fabiana received her First Communion. The family invited CCA staff, and five of us went.”
Franklin and Jogrenan were overwhelmed — after all of the trials and challenges their daughter had faced over the last six years, things have started to fall into place.
“It was a moment of great joy, of blessing, where Fabiana was surrounded by the affection of the people who love her, her family, her friends who still help and guide when she needs it and members of Catholic Charities,” he said. “We are very grateful to God and all the saints for each of the people who, in this state, have given us help, a word, being a guide so that we can move forward, orienting us on the path, forming friendships that we consider will last over time.”
