Francesca's mother, Adrianna, immigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador when she was 11 years old because her sister Gabby needed to have surgery to fix a hole in her heart. In Latin America during the '70s, there weren't many opportunities for rehabilitation/schooling for children with disabilities — Gabby has Down's Syndrome — so her grandparents chose to stay in the states. Adrianna sacrificed her childhood to raise Gabby while her parents worked to put food on the table. Years later, when she gave birth to Francesca, they moved from Maryland to Los Angeles to help raise her daughter so that she could work and not have to pay for a sitter.
"I am grateful to not only my mother, but my grandparents and father as well, who have all sacrificed so many opportunities to allow me to succeed in life," Francesca says.
