Cover Story

20 YEARS OF CONNECTING COMMUNITIES

Conexión Américas Looks Forward After Two Decades of Service

BY AMANDA HAGGARD

When the nonprofit Conexión Américas launched in 2002, Nashville was smaller in so many ways: The Hispanic and Latino community made up only roughly 5 percent of the population. Over the next 20 years, the organization grew with the community. Now, Latinos are the fastest-growing population in the area, with more than 10 percent of Nashvillians identifying as Hispanic or Latino in the latest U.S. Census. And the organization is celebrating 20 years of serving the community.

When it was founded by Renata Soto, José González and María Clara Mejía, they were looking to “build a welcoming community and create opportunities where Latino families can belong, contribute and succeed,” according to current co-executive directors Martha Silva and Tara Lentz. Leaders at the nonprofit have long worked through education, advocacy, economic development as guiding points.

“The biggest accomplishment over the past 20 years has been to live our mission in a way that allows Latino families to be served through programs and partnerships so they can successfully continue their journey of integration in this country,” the directors said.

The nonprofit provides assistance to over 9,000 individuals and families every year through programs like Negocio Próspero, where entrepreneurs receive guidance to launch and grow their own businesses, and Puertas Abiertas, a longstanding homeownership program that provides Latino families access to financing, financial counseling and culturally competent homebuyer education.

In 2012, they launched the Mesa Komal Culinary Incubator, which is a licensed commercial kitchen that offers affordable space for immigrant and native-born food entrepreneurs. There, people have utilized the space for everything from food trucks to catering to cooking food for market retail environments. In August of this year, they teamed up with Belmont University and Sodexo to open the Mesa Komal Café at Belmont, which will place members of the Mesa Komal program in yearly rotation to give them more experience running their business.

“The name stems from two words: ‘Mesa’ is the Spanish word for table and ‘Komal’ is the Kurdish word for community,” they said. “We chose the name as a banner for our kitchen: Everyone is welcome at our table.”

As with the Belmont affiliation, partnerships have been part of the nonprofit’s strategy to expand resources and the ways they can provide services. In advocacy efforts, they partnered locally and nationally to work on defeating the English Only referendum in 2009. Three years later, they began work with Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition and Tennessee Justice for our Neighbors to coordinate with volunteer attorneys and host community outreach events and workshops to educate as DACA was established. It’s become an ongoing effort as the legal back and forth continues regarding the ruling and as families prepare for what may happen if the provision doesn’t continue.

“We’ve always known that there is no one organization that can do it all — or that [we] should even try to do it all,” they said. “With the right partnerships, we have been able to collaborate and complement each other's services to broaden and deepen direct services for families in our community.”

In 2012, Conexión Américas created and moved into Casa Azafrán, which has almost become synonymous with the organization. It houses other nonprofits as well and Nashvillians see it as an open community space for people of all kinds. Casa Azafrán offers health services and mental health counseling, adult education and after-school programming for children and youth, an MNPS Pre-K center, legal and financial services, entrepreneurship, leadership development and community organizing, and space for the visual, performing and culinary arts.

At Casa Azafrán on Sept. 15, Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations will kick off with the Hispanic Heritage Awards Ceremony from 6-7:30 p.m. It’ll start with the unveiling of a new mural on the building, which is called the “We All Belong Mural.” It was commissioned by local artist Ruben Torres.

“This mural represents the work of all of Conexión Américas’ partners at Casa Azafrán and the diverse communities that the nonprofit collaborative and cultural hub welcomes,” they said. “The mural, painted on the north facing wall of Casa Azafrán, encompasses the life, culture, and alma of the Latin immigrant community, and highlights Nolensville Pike as the international corridor of Nashville.”

At the award’s ceremony after the unveiling, three Orgullo Hispano (Hispanic Pride) awards will go to unsung heroes in the community: Damaris Villava, Araceli Crescensio, and Celia Aguilar. They were all nominated by peer community organizations.

Villava volunteers with Américas’ Negocio Próspero and Adult Education programs, as well as with the Tennessee Immigrant Refugee Rights Coalition. She also fights for DACA and gives assistance to first-generation DACA recipients and DREAMers to start businesses, apply for school and deal with filing taxes and other federal requirements. Crescencio is a News Channel 5 news reporter and a first-generation Latina who covers the Latino community and their experience as well as working with Latino Achievers, which works to empower students. Aguilar is a Whitsitt Elementary School parent and volunteer at the school’s garden. She’s also built partnerships with Cosecha, a grassroots nonprofit organization with a mission to gather neighbors together to foster community along Nolensville Pike and South Nashville.

Conexión Américas will also honor Lauren M. Rogel with the 'Amiga We Love’ award.

For five years, Rogel has provided pro bono legal services to Negocio Próspero small business development program participants on things like reviewing contracts and agreements.

They also prompted young people to write essays in this 20th year of the organization, which was themed “My Present, My Future, My Generation.” High school students shared how their experiences living in the United States defined their identity, how they perceive the role of their generation of young Latinos in shaping our community, and what dreams they have for themselves and their generation over the next two decades. Winning essays will be announced at the event.

“Some of the overarching themes that we noticed were the difficulties of navigating multiple identities, the pressures of being first-generation, such as serving as interpreters for their parents and the community at large, balancing their families’ expectations with the many hurdles they face on a daily basis such as systemic and educational barriers, and dreaming of success, whether it is being a musician, working in the medical field, or still figuring it out,” they said.

Conexión Américas says it's proud of the many barriers it has overcome throughout two decades.

“Most recently, we overcame the barrier for Latino families to access financial support due to the pandemic crisis,” they said. “The Latino community was heavily affected by the financial burden of the pandemic where many workers lost their jobs, the majority of which did not provide sick days or possibilities of remote work. With the available funding, strong partnerships, and the hard work of Conexión Américas, more than $1 million were distributed to families in need of assistance during the most difficult times of the pandemic.”

For the next 20 years, Conexión Américas says it will continue to move forward through barriers, always aiming to foster more robust networks within the broader immigrant community and the immigrant-serving sector and to expand their focus on inspiring and incubating leadership for future systems changers.

“We’re only getting started,” they said. “Conexión Américas will continue to advocate for the Latino community’s right to belong, contribute, and succeed.”