Reaching Out

Leaving his home in Bonetti Ranch, a migrant community of dilapidated army barracks with no indoor plumbing or drinkable water, Francisco Jiménez sets off for college. He leaves behind a family struggling to pay for food and rent, and a desperate, broken father. Carrying memories of years of poverty and prejudice with him, he enters a world entirely different from his own. Yet as he types other students’ papers in exchange for clothing, as he studies hard, as he meets with unexpected kindness, he uses those very memories of struggle to see his way forward. Once again, Francisco Jiménez’s honest words will open listeners' hearts and minds.