Celebrating Hispanic Heritage by Giving Back
The Benitez family’s journey with juvenile arthritis is inspiring them to pay it forward to the Spanish-speaking arthritis community.
Grace and Fidel Benitez first sought support through the Arthritis Foundation shortly after their young son was diagnosed at age 4 with polyarticular juvenile arthritis (JA). Over the past few years, the busy military family has become increasingly involved with the Foundation and the greater arthritis community — making time to raise funds for the Foundation’s Walk to Cure Arthritis and attending several JA Family Summits. They’re now giving back in many ways, including lending a hand to Spanish-speaking members of the arthritis community.
We recently caught up with the Benetiz family to talk about their JA journey and to celebrate their heritage during Hispanic Heritage Month.
Q: What does Hispanic Heritage Month mean to you?Fidel: To me, Hispanic Heritage Month is all about remembering where my family came from and honoring the traditions, values and stories that have been passed down through generations.
Q: How do you typically celebrate this month of heritage?
Grace: I’ve been part of events in the past. I’ve helped introduce traditional games like trompo and lotería at community gatherings, which was a really fun way to share my culture. This year, since we recently moved from Missouri to Northern Virginia, I’m planning to check out some local festivals.
Q: What type of volunteer work have you done for the Arthritis Foundation to help support the Spanish-speaking arthritis community?
Fidel: At the JA Family Summit in Utah this year, my wife and I were able to help out with planning and making the event more inclusive for Spanish-speaking families. We worked on getting translators involved and making sure materials were available in Spanish. That way, everyone could feel included and informed. It was really rewarding to help break down that language barrier and make sure families could fully take part in such a big event.
It has been an amazing experience just being able to give back because we've received so much from the Foundation in terms of knowledge, education and support that it is great just to give back a little bit of what they've given to us and our family.
Grace Benitez
JA mom and Arthritis Foundation volunteer
Grace: Because language shouldn’t be a barrier to getting help. I believe when information is available in Spanish, it opens the door for so many Spanish-speaking families to understand what they or their loved ones are going through. It makes things less overwhelming. I believe everyone deserves to have access to the right information in a language they feel comfortable with.
Q: If you could do more to help the Spanish-speaking arthritis community, what would it be?
Grace: I would love to help create more resources in Spanish, such as more support groups, where people can share their experiences and get help in their own language. I think it would also be great to have more bilingual health care professionals and volunteers involved, so that families are not stuck with a language barrier that prevents them from getting support and resources that are needed.
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