About us
Our history
Amigo Community Center (ACC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization registered in Tennessee, founded in 2023 in response to the growing need for bilingual and culturally relevant access points for Latino and immigrant families. Our co-founders, Angela Trillo and Januelys Isea, started with a simple yet urgent observation: many families in our community were navigating complex systems—such as legal, financial, and educational—without the necessary information or support to succeed. Although resources existed, they were often hard to find, even harder to understand, or offered in a way that didn't reflect the realities of those who needed them most.
Amigo
From its inception, ACC was not conceived to replace or duplicate existing services. Rather, we positioned ourselves as a connecting bridge: attentively listening to community needs, building trusting alliances, and coordinating educational access across multiple sectors. This model has allowed us to reach individuals who are frequently excluded from traditional service networks, whether due to language barriers, fear of legal repercussions, or lack of awareness of institutional processes.
Our work started with a grassroots community approach: listening to the community at public events, churches, libraries, and community centers. We began distributing bilingual resources in person, by word of mouth, and via WhatsApp. We also identified local partners who shared our vision of equity and access. By 2024, these efforts evolved into organized initiatives in collaboration with institutions like Bank of America, Cornell University, the YMCA, large employers, and the City of Memphis. We offered bilingual entrepreneurship workshops, organized Memphis's first multicultural job fair, and launched "Know Your Rights" sessions co-facilitated by public defenders—all based on our educational pillar.
In 2025, ACC received its first competitive grant, marking a milestone in both our organizational development and the trust placed in us by the community and our institutional allies.
That same year, on May 7, 2025, we were proud to officially inaugurate our first office—donated by our beloved Latino capital, El Mercadito de Memphis, and its visionary founder Don Juan Hernández. This generous gesture symbolizes the power of community-led support and the strength that comes from uplifting one another. Today, this office functions as a warm space for connection, education, and empowerment.
Currently, we remain deeply rooted in the Memphis metropolitan area, where our team and board continue to design programs in collaboration with local leaders and national experts. Looking ahead, our goal is to replicate the success of our model in other states with growing Latino populations, starting with Texas, Florida, and California. Our expansion will continue to be community-guided and partnership-based, following the same principles that marked our first steps: listening first, building trust, and meeting people where they are.
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