Karen Benitez's father takes off her quinceañera shoes and puts on Benitez's pair of heels as part of the traditional ceremony conducted during the quinceañera on Friday evening. 

Almost one year before her 15th birthday, she faced a harsh reality: she wasn’t going to have a quinceañera — a traditional ceremony where family and friends gather to celebrate that a girl now turns into a young woman.

Tyler native Karen Benitez’s parents told her that due to lack of funds, she wouldn’t have the celebration.

The family had been going through an immigration process which involved the legalization of Benitez’s father, which had dug into the family’s savings and forced them to move to Mesquite to stay with family members to save more money.

The odds of Benitez celebrating this monumental tradition for a Hispanic teen were slim, but thanks to a contest and caring community members her wish would eventually become her reality.

Immigration Challenges

Benitez’s father was recently notified that through the legal process, he would have to return to his birth country of Mexico and be there for an uncertain amount of time, then the possibility of becoming a resident in Texas would be available.

But even then, he was told there is no guarantee that the residency would be granted. If not successful in obtaining the residency, he would have to stay in Mexico.

When the attorney communicated this to the family, they realized they faced separation. The head of the household would soon leave Benitez’s mother, Yoana, and their five children.

With Benitez’s mother being a stay-at-home mom, the close-knit family was forced to think about a plan and prepare for a husband and father’s departure, a plan which is still to be determined.

A quinceañera for Benitez would now be the last priority, if that.

“My husband is the only person in the family that doesn’t have residency. Right now, we’re in a difficult process because there’s going to be a separation of our family. He’s going to go back to Mexico when they give him the appointment in Ciudad Juarez. It’s not permitted for him to obtain the residency here, but in Mexico. So it’s going to be difficult for us and we really don’t know when the end of this will be. We hope this will be for the greater good and he will obtain his residency so that we can be stable here,” Benitez’s mother said.

Since living in the United States, Benitez’s father was unable to find a steady career. The simple fact that he was an illegal immigrant, held him back in more ways than they realized.

For the past few years, Benitez’s father has been working in construction, where work is often affected by weather conditions, and with the recent winter storm, the family has struggled.

“It’s been difficult for us to financially maintain ourselves through this entire time,” Benitez’s mother said. “It’s been so difficult, so frustrating and it’s been a daily struggle, because although (my husband) speaks English, although he’s lived here for many years, simply because he doesn’t have a social security card, he can’t have a better job than what he has. He knows English, he is knowledgeable of many things, but if he doesn’t have a social security card, he can’t have the opportunity to have a better job so that we can have a better life.”

Some of the daily struggles the family faces include sending money to lawyers, the legal process being delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and not being able to drive without a driver’s license.

“We can’t do a lot of things that a normal family can do, like a family could travel and go out and do many things, we deprive ourselves of doing many things because of these motives. It’s very difficult, it’s sad and we’re just waiting to see what the time says,” Benitez’s mother said.

A Pivotal Trip Through the chaos and emotional turmoil going on at home, Benitez’s mother heard of a Quinceañera Expo and decided to take her daughter there just for fun. They knew Benitez would not have the celebration; it was just a dream for her, as she had already been told it was not happening.

“It was like an illusion, a dream (the idea of the celebration). We said, well we’re going to go see, so there we were, we didn’t know what was going to happen. We heard (the announcement) so we entered the competition. Those who don’t risk anything don’t win anything,” she said.

Benitez attended the Quinceañera Expo at the Eagle’s Event Center on Old Henderson Highway in Tyler, where a fashion show was held to demonstrate make-up, hair and a variety of dresses. At the event, a competition was announced that gave Benitez a chance to finally have the day of her dreams.

Girls with an upcoming 15th birthday had the opportunity to submit a letter to the competition describing why they should be chosen for a quinceañera celebration. Benitez soon found she was the winning contestant.

This would mean the world to Benitez, as her father would finally see her turn into a young woman and be there to celebrate with the family before he leaves them for an unknown amount of time.

“Without this, she would not have had anything. We economically don’t have the funds to pay anything like this. We don’t have a stable job, we don’t have money for us to say, ‘We’ll pay this and that’ we couldn’t pay anything. That was another motive to enter the competition. It was a light in our road, a chance for us to be able to give her her dream. If not, she would not have had a quinceañera,” Yoana Benitez said.

The gift of the celebration included everything Benitez didn’t have — a dress, cake, drinks, food and catering, photography and video, DJ and live music, memorable gifts for the ceremony, decorations and even a venue.

After accepting the reality that a quinceañera would never happen for her, she suddenly found herself with everything her parents could provide for her special day.

The day of her quinceañera was finally held on Friday night at the Eagle’s Event Center in Tyler.

“I’m so happy. I’m so grateful to everyone who helped my dream become a reality,” Benitez said.

Benitez’s parents were stunned that their only daughter had been gifted a quinceañera. They were grateful Benitez’s letter moved the judges more than any other letter.

Once she met the vendors and donators, Benitez was given the opportunity to voice her opinions, such as on the colors she preferred for her theme and what dress she wanted.

“We’re so grateful for everyone who donated, with the sponsors, with all the vendors that came and with everyone who made this event a possibility. It was such a surprise, we’re so surprised and happy,” Benitez’s mom said.

‘We’re a team’Organizing the event was no easy task. The competition was opened to give a girl the celebration of her dreams, but planning it was almost a nightmare. The event had been postponed many times because of the pandemic and the original organizer of the event was replaced a few months before the official date of the event.

Jacqueline Ramirez, editor of Quinceañera Magazine TX and organizer of the celebration, managed communications and sponsors. Ramirez replaced the original organizer, leaving little to no time to get everything together and pull the event off seamlessly.

“This was an event that was announced at the Open House last year. The competition began and a winning girl was announced, then the organizing began,” Ramirez said. “They called me because the original organizer wasn’t familiar with many sponsors or no longer had any communication with them. So my job began three to four months ago, was to unite everyone who had committed to donating and my job was also to finish looking for musical sponsors.”

Ramirez said gathering sponsors was not the hard part because most businesses in Tyler help each other out often.

“What was the most difficult part was postponing the date being because of COVID. As you can see, it’s a small party, we’re following guidelines, it’s just the family in attendance. Because of the situation, we can’t do a large event. Regardless, the quinceañera feels like it’s an event for 500 or 600 people, but it’s not, it’s very small.

As Ramirez quickly looked for ways to provide a lavish party for Benitez, she found sponsors who were more than willing to give their time and services at absolutely no cost. Once she gathered everyone she needed, some were still asking to participate and donate, but more sponsors were not needed.

“We’re a team. Today it was for a quinceañera, but tomorrow it may be for a benefit, maybe someone who’s sick, but the message I would like to give you is that of solidarity,” Ramirez said. “Let’s have solidarity with those we have near us. Let’s support each other within businesses because if we don’t have each other’s back, who is going to have our back.”

Sponsors donated whatever they wanted to, whether it was a small or large cake. She also said money was not accepted from sponsors, just services and gifts like drinks and food.

Ramirez said this event said a lot about the Hispanic community.

For Benitez, Ramirez said she wishes for her to study and always reach goals to keep advancing in life.

“I want her to be a girl with values. Even if she reaches to obtain her doctorate’s degree, she must have values. What are the values? Honesty and respect. If she has that, even someone who doesn’t have an education or doesn’t speak English, we’re above anyone else. I want her to see her neighbor the same as her. Just because one is a medic or one is a baker, we’re all the same. What makes us the same? Our values,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez said this will not be the first quinceañera event they are giving away. They expect to donate another quinceañera event next year to another girl’s dreams come true.

Those that donated their time and services for the gifted quinceañera include; Erika’s Service & DJ Galaxy, 3 Charritos Mexican Restaurant, Las 3 Reinas Restaurant, Irais Garcia, Divina Betancourt, Familia Duran, Juanita Ruelas, DJ Ranas, DJ Crown, Gold Glamour Artistry, La Gran Fiesta, Dulce & Salado, Esparza’s Entertainment, Go-Go’s Financial Services, LLC, Hair Design Beauty Salon by Andrea Cadena, Hair Design Beauty Salon and Barbershop by Miriam, Cati Ellis Decoration, Cesar Angeles Photography and Video, Reynado Grupo Musical and CSRPromotions.