Celebrating and honoring Battle Creek’s Latin American cultures and contributions – Second Wave

Editor’s note: This story is part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave’s On the Ground Battle Creek series.

BATTLE CREEK, MI — Preserving the Latinx heritage in Battle Creek while showing the city’s wider community the variety and richness of Latin American cultures is the goal of the Battle Creek Latin American Heritage Initiative (BCLAHI), a nonprofit that receives support from the Battle Creek Community Foundation (BCCF).

In September, BCCF announced the distribution of more than $300,000 in grant funding to 25 local organizations, including BCLAHI, in support of the 2025 Hispanic Heritage Month celebration. The annual observance, which began in 1968, is celebrated nationally and locally from September 15 to October 15.

“All our events are held during Hispanic Heritage Month since our focus is to preserve our heritage, and we align them with the activities taking place nationwide during this month,” says Jesús Grillo Trujillo, BCLAHI co-founder and co-publisher of Battle Creek’s Spanish-language newspaper, Nueva Opinión.

Grillo Trujillo and his wife, Lucy Mosquera,  who is co-publisher of Nueva Opinion, founded BCLAHI in 2016 to show the wider Battle Creek community the variety and richness of Latin American cultures, developing understanding, pride, and belonging through food, music, and art.

On September 1, the BCLAHI hosted the Hispanic Heritage Month Kick-Off Fiesta at Friendship Park in downtown Battle Creek. An estimated crowd of 600 people attended the festivities, which included live music, traditional dances, art, local food vendors, and family-friendly entertainment. Raffles distributed several gift cards, and six laptops were given to Latinx families to support local students with much-needed technology.

“Here in Battle Creek, we have new generations that we would like to instill pride of their heritage and knowledge of their origins, so that their pride for their roots can be shared for generations to come.” — Jesús Grillo Trujillo, BCLAHI co-founder and co-publisher of Battle Creek’s Spanish-language newspaper, Nueva Opinión

The Fiesta, celebrating the Latinx community’s deep roots and contributions to the Battle Creek community, is among numerous ways that the Latinx heritage is preserved, Trujillo Grillo says. He also cited other cultural and educational initiatives: awarding Nuestra Herencia scholarships, student incentive awards, and donating laptops to Latinx families to bridge the digital divide.

Nuestra Herencia (Our Heritage) scholarships were presented during the Fiesta to Jocelyn Hernandez of Battle Creek, who is studying at the University of Michigan, received a $3,000 scholarship, and Jenny Avila, a Grand Valley State University student, also from Battle Creek, received a $1,500 scholarship.

“A highlight of the Kick-Off Fiesta was when Battle Creek Mayor Mark Behnke read the official Hispanic Heritage Month Proclamation, underscoring the city’s recognition of the Latinx Community,” Trujillo Grillo says.

In addition to BCCF, the Fiesta received support from several other local organizations in the community, says a press release from BCCF.

Battle Creek Latin-American Heritage Initiative (BCLAHI) is a fiscally sponsored community project of Encourage BC!, a supporting organization of the Battle Creek Community Foundation (BCCF).

“Encourage BC! is a vehicle that allows people to do charitable activities in Calhoun County by lending BCCF’s umbrella nonprofit status to groups who want to operate like a nonprofit,” says Angela Myers, BCCF Director of Corporate Compliance & Talent.

“Encourage BC! provides organizations like BCLAHI with administrative support, such as creating required reports, running finances, and managing audits, so that they remain compliant while focusing on the charitable work that fulfills their mission.”

Myers says BCCF helps open doors with other partners and funders, to provide credibility to their work. It also acts as a fiscal sponsor, as well as a collaborator, available for check-ins, strategic support, and as an enabler to BCLAHI’s growing impact in the community.

“Supporting organizations like BCLAHI, and their Hispanic Heritage Month Kick-Off Fiesta is a great way to introduce all members of the Battle Creek community to the rich culture that lives among us, including residents representing 23 Spanish-speaking countries,” says Myers. “The Fiesta is also an engaging way for residents to learn about diverse local businesses in the Hispanic and LatinX community, and the economic impact they provide to Battle Creek.”

Finding community, a place to call home, more to be done

In 2023, there were 4,420 Hispanic and Latino residents in Battle Creek. This represented 8.43 percent of the city’s total population of 52,392, according to Data USA.

“Most are Mexican. These families have settled in Battle Creek because of its proximity to large cities such as Chicago and Detroit, and especially Chicago, where many already had relatives. For others, the first step was to come here to work in the fields, but they found a quiet and welcoming place to settle down and raise a family,” Trujillo Grillo says. 

“Most of them later moved from agricultural work to steady jobs in factories, and some arrived with contracts from companies such as Kellogg. Now, although most are first-generation immigrants who have been in Battle Creek for more than 20 years, their descendants and families continue to live in Battle Creek.”

Although there has been progress, Trujillo Grillo says, there is more to be done. He says challenges remain, including limited participation for Battle Creek’s Hispanic and Latinx community members in both nonprofit and for-profit organizations.

He also cites the continued presence of stereotypes and racial profiling.

“Although progress has been made, many organizations still do not see the Latino community as a valuable part of their workforce in office or decision-making roles, but rather still view us mainly as line workers or field laborers,” he says. “At the same time, our community shares the same struggles that Latinos face nationwide, such as the increasingly difficult process of obtaining immigration status, with more barriers each year.”

Greater uncertainty in immigration policy is increasing fear in the Hispanic Latinx community. Trujillo Grillo says families are worried about the barriers that continue to escalate for those wishing to acquire legal status, and how this influences their stability and the future. There is also concern, he says,  about how national rhetoric sometimes encourages stereotypes or terrorizes immigrant communities.

“These families have settled in Battle Creek because of its proximity to large cities such as Chicago and Detroit, and especially Chicago, where many already had relatives. For others, the first step was to come here to work in the fields, but they found a quiet and welcoming place to settle down and raise a family.” — Jesús Grillo Trujillo

“Even the process to become a USA citizen is getting harder every day. A severe example that has struck hard with a number of families in Battle Creek is the withdrawal of TPS (Temporary Protected Status). For over 25 years, many individuals had renewable permits which granted them working legally and being able to maintain their families. Losing such a status overnight has meant losing their jobs in the night, which does not only impact the individual but the entire family.”

Trujillo Grillo says setting aside one month out of each year to celebrate the culture, traditions, and contributions is important.

“Here in Battle Creek, we have new generations that we would like to instill pride of their heritage and knowledge of their origins, so that their pride for their roots can be shared for generations to come,” he says. “Because Hispanic Heritage Month is a national celebration, it also reminds us of the many contributions of Latino immigrants and reminds us where we came from. If we do not celebrate this month, the rest of our society will start to forget the significance of a community that has been here since the beginning.”

National cultural recognitions of the diverse communities that reside in Southwest Michigan, and the U.S. as a whole, were created to honor and commemorate contributions from various members of the community,” says Myers.

National Hispanic Heritage Week was expanded to a month-long celebration by Congress in 1988 under President George H.W. Bush’s administration. In 1989, Bush said, “Not all of the contributions made by Hispanic Americans are so visible or widely celebrated. Hispanic Americans have enriched our nation beyond measure with the quiet strength of closely knit families and proud communities.”BCCF is accepting applications for its second and final competitive grant round of this fiscal year now through noon (12:00 pm ET) on October 8, 2025. Find more information about grant applications, other funding opportunities, deadlines, and requirements HERE or call (269) 962-2181.