Darsy Amaya is “all of it:” an immigrant, single mother, interpreter, entrepreneur, and artist. Seeking greater economic opportunity in the United States, Amaya’s mother moved her young family from Honduras to New York City when Amaya was only thirteen. Identifying as both an immigrant and an American helps Amaya serve as a cultural bridge for the Latinx community in her work as an interpreter and artist here in Columbus.
Watching her child march in his school’s annual Halloween parade, Mayra Betances couldn’t help but wonder, “what happens to these costumes once Halloween ends?” Parents might store the festive clothes in the closet until the following year – by which time the child could outgrow it or fancy a different ensemble. Betances developed a plan to give new life to these garments. In 2009, she conceptualized Create Happy Moments, an organization dedicated to promoting cultural exchange between the United States and Dominican Republic through the donation of used Halloween costumes to children in the D.R.