CRESS Hires New Project Manager and Fifth Responder

CRESS (Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service) has hired Project Manager Daniel “Dan” Garcia and a fifth responder, Terrell “TJ” Jones. Garcia and Jones spoke about their new positions with the Indy last week.

Project Manager Daniel (Dan) Garcia
Garcia, the department’s first project manager, relocated to Amherst from Houston and has spent 25 years working in higher education, serving marginalized populations, low-income, and first-generation students.

“My specialties have been in developing communities, wraparound services, support services, and grant funding…searching for grant funds, providing grant funds, and developing equitable access to education for students,” Garcia said. “My whole career has been in the service industry of serving others and helping others have a chance at success.”

As Project Manager, Garcia is responsible for managing CRESS grants and supporting the organizations and departments receiving that funding, such as the Amherst Survival Center and the Morning Movement and Mentoring Youth Program. Garcia emphasized the collaborative nature of CRESS and how he wants to work across departments to create “an overall blanket of wraparound services for the community.”

“What I hope to accomplish is…being out in the community, talking with people, letting them know what we can do, what we can provide, but also maximizing the amount of resources that we can distribute, and also…finding more grants, finding more funding resources to help the community, to help the outreach that we do.”

Since starting the role in mid-January, Garcia has been working to better understand the needs of his new community in Amherst, which he called “an inclusive, loving environment where people are not afraid to be heard or to speak.”

“It was a lot of learning the community, meeting people…trying to understand what the community needs are and then how I can take that and translate it into what we do in this office.”

New Responder Tyrell (TJ) Jones
Jones, who began work at CRESS on January 12, is a native of Springfield, Massachusetts, and worked as a youth program coordinator for ten years. “That [role] kind of cemented my desire or my passion for community-based work and how essential it is.”

“My biggest thing when it comes to the type of work that I’m doing is to continue to be a pillar of empathy, understanding, and patience.”

As a responder, Jones works to connect and coordinate resources for community members in need.  Speaking of his first weeks on the job, Jones said,  “After being trained for some of the policies and procedures, I jumped right in. I didn’t need to be guided to interact with the community. I think I move off of my values, and I value empathy. I value understanding. So I was readily able to interact with the community, and it’s been great.”

When asked what changes he hoped to make in his time with CRESS, Jones said there are no specific changes he’s seeking, but believes the department would benefit from adding two additional responders “as the workload picks up.”

Currently, CRESS is in the process of hiring a sixth responder which will even out their numbers, as responders are dispatched in pairs. 

According to a report from the League of Women Voters of Amherst’s Racial Justice Committee,  “The 2025/26 Town Budget [froze] two Responder posts, reducing their number from eight to six.”

The department’s budget was also reduced by 19% from FY2024/25 to FY2025/26. Currently, Garcia’s role as project manager is being financed through a temporary grant that supports his position through June 30, 2026. If no alternative funding is found, the position will likely be terminated. 

“I am actively grant searching [and] grant writing to see what is out there. I came into this role knowing that that’s the situation I’m going to be in, but knowing the work that we’re doing, this is something that aligns with my mission, my personal mission in life. And so I didn’t hesitate to take this job, even with an end date,” Garcia said. 

“My hope is that I can find grant funding, either state or federal funding, to continue this position, to continue serving the Amherst community.”

Both Garcia and Jones emphasized that CRESS is a growing department that is evolving with the community. 

“As we grow and learn, we will evolve to meet the needs of the community. And that’s what’s going to help us get these resources and funds through grants or anything else,” Garcia said. “In the grander scheme of things, we’re still a very young program that’s adapting to the community…We have to know how to change to meet the needs of the community, which is what we’re doing. We do really well.”

“What I love most about our department is how adaptable we are…We anticipate change. So we’re prepared for it…I think we’re always growing to just align with the community needs. So we’re forever changing,” Jones added.