Child experiences ‘miracle’ of love, healing at Sagrada Familia

By Priscilla A. Greear - Florida Catholic

MIAMI | Katia Reyes always noticed that her infant son, Liam, never made eye contact nor responded to his name. Then, in November 2021, she enrolled him at Catholic Charities’ Sagrada Familia Child Development Center: beginning a veritable Head Start to healing in his journey to kindergarten.

At Sagrada Familia, Reyes soon met with a multidisciplinary team: licensed mental health counselor Raquel Valdivia; nutritionist Shalimar Ruggiero; and social service and education coordinators. They referred Liam to a neurologist who confirmed an autism diagnosis. The Catholic Charities team soon arranged for applied behavior analysis at the center through a partner agency.

“The teachers noticed he was not responding to his name and we had a meeting at this school with the teacher,” Reyes recalled of her youngest of six children. “It surprised me. Before I was unfamiliar with the problem, but now I am very interested in understanding better, to be informed so that he doesn’t fall behind.”

Liam also began receiving occupational, feeding and speech therapy for difficulty swallowing, holding a spoon and talking. Later, a teacher noticed an irregular mole during a diaper change. Reyes took him to the doctor and received a diagnosis of skin cancer.

“I felt terrible, like I almost died,” she recalled in an interview with the Florida Catholic at Sagrada Familia.

During treatment, Catholic Charities assisted with gift cards, including for rides to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital as Liam underwent 10 months of chemotherapy.

“In between chemo treatments he would come every so often and see his classmates. Teachers would be consistent with the diaper change and cream. They adjusted to the child’s needs at the moment,” said Valdivia.

Reyes’ three oldest children attended a charter school before she stumbled across Sagrada Familia in the Manuel Artime building in Miami’s Little Havana. She immediately felt welcomed by staff and the entrance’s colorful Haydee Scull mural blending Old Havana and Florida history.

“It was tremendous emotional support,” she said in Spanish. “I turned to them because I have always felt this affection. More than professional, it’s more human support,” she added. “They told me immediately where the places are to turn to get this type of help for Liam.”

The Catholic Charities team helped Liam secure a full day individual education plan by July 2023, helping the family contact the pediatrician and oncologist and complete extensive paperwork. They assisted with his reluctant transition from Sagrada Familia to a public school special education program. Valdivia and Ruggiero met with the school staff, eventually involving the Head Start staff and specialists.

The team helped ensure Liam was comfortable in the classroom with the right food, formula and diaper changes.

“His initial school had so many roadblocks where I had to literally contact Tallahassee to let them know that by law they have to provide the formula because he has special needs,” Ruggiero recalled. “It was really heartbreaking, and we said we’re not going to stop until we find the right school, the right placement, the right team.”

Catholic Charities facilitated Liam's transfer to Kensington Park Elementary School and Glory to God Prescribed Pediatric Extended Care in October 2023, where he received needed services.

At Sagrada Familia, “we have a wonderful team of professionals who support each other and come together to provide the help and assistance and guidance of the children who come to our program, especially the children (with) the most severe (conditions),” Valdivia said.

Peter Routsis-Arroyo, Catholic Charities’ chief executive officer, affirmed their steadfast work to uplift children.

“It demonstrated the importance of our Head Start program and being able to identify someone with special needs and being sensitive and caring enough to go the extra yard,” he said. “It’s for (Liam) to be able to get the services that he needed not only for the cancer but also for the specialists he needed.”

Gladys Palacios, Catholic Charities’ senior director of Child Development Services, noted how Routsis-Arroyo visits every classroom yearly.

“Peter has been a blessing for this agency. His background in social services as a licensed social worker makes a big factor in the approach regarding the services to the families,” said Palacios, who has served at Catholic Charities over 40 years. “I have been a witness of the service Catholic Charities provides to the community especially for the low-income families who sometimes don’t know where to take their small children. And this program provides a nurturing environment, education, mental health and disability services, family programs.”

Liam’s mother continues to takes him monthly to the oncologist for monitoring and treatment for inflammation but his health and social skills have improved significantly.

“It pushes you forward, especially when Katia keeps in touch and you know you are going to make a difference in helping other families and propelling them forward,” reflected Ruggiero.

Reyes said she is deeply grateful for Catholic Charities’ support and seeing Liam, now 5, begin kindergarten at Glory to God.

Catholic Charities “is a great center with very humane people who do more than their jobs. This means everything because there are people I can count on,” said Reyes. “Liam is very happy, very healthy.”

The Nicaragua native recalled seeing a video of Liam sliding in the playground. “This video made me cry. In my prayers, when he received the cancer diagnosis, I asked God to make him appear like he appears in this video, playing and happy, and he granted me my prayer. God is everything. God is good. It’s a miracle,” said Reyes, who is now concluding her own education journey.

She completed 45 training hours at Miami Dade College and awaits her license through the Florida Department of Children and Families to complete the hiring process as a teaching assistant at Catholic Charities.

“This agency and the Head Start program have supported me and my children in many ways, providing valuable resources that have helped me move toward self-sufficiency. They encouraged me to return to school and complete the requirements to become a teacher’s aide,” Reyes said.

“I almost feel like a lawyer sometimes with the experience to be able to learn how to advocate better for my child,” she added. “I always remember how Catholic Charities was there to help and now I want to help others.”

 

ABOUT SAGRADA FAMILIA AND HEAD START

Sagrada Familia center is located at 970 SW First Street in Miami.

Founded in 1979, it’s the original of six Catholic Charities’ Child Development Centers that also include Centro Hispano, Good Shepherd, Notre Dame, Holy Redeemer, and South Dade.

The centers provide free education to low-income children and those qualifying with special needs up to age 5 through the Early Head Start, Head Start, VPK vouchers and private pay, with the goal of school readiness through comprehensive social services.

Community programs also include Family and School Together, offered through Jewish Community Services, and a parenting program, Nurturing Family.

This 2025-26 school year, the six centers welcome 1,275 preschoolers and 120 infants and toddlers.

On July 10, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared that Head Start, which has never checked immigration status, cannot enroll undocumented immigrant children.

Gladys Palacios, Catholic Charities’ senior director of Child Development Services, said on Aug. 4, 2025, that they are enrolling families as usual but that the policy is definitely “affecting our enrollment and limiting our ability to serve children who are in need of our services.”