Meet Rigo Antonio Flores-Noriega, Amherst’s Newest Community Responder

CRESS (Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service) has hired a sixth responder, Rigo Antonio Flores-Noriega.
The addition of Flores-Noriega brings staffing at CRESS up to six responders, still far short of the 13 that had been recommended for FY27 by the town’s Community Safety and Social Justice Committee.

Flores-Noriega, who began work at CRESS March 18, is originally from Chelsea, Massachusetts where he formerly worked as an automotive technician.

As a first-generation Latino, he discovered a passion for community outreach working at La Colaborativa, a Boston-based organization supporting Latinx immigrants with education opportunities, economic development, housing, health screenings, and other resources. Flores-Noriega worked as a translator at the organization, helping community members with parts of their immigration process and in obtaining housing vouchers.

“As a Latino man, I know that…sometimes there aren’t enough spaces or opportunities for people to understand our unique struggles. So I always strive to be that person that can help. And I come from a low-income background. So I know how that is firsthand and how frustrating it could be when you have no control over that situation.”

Flores-Noriega’s parents immigrated to the United States from Honduras and Guatemala and he is bilingual in English and Spanish, a skill crucial to forwarding the work of public safety.

“I think it’s important for CRESS to have more bilingual responders because not everyone in this country/town’s first language is English, and in my experience, I have had neighbors give me that sigh of relief that they have a Spanish speaker to help and understand their wants and needs,” Flores-Noriega said in an email. “Also, this doesn’t just go for the Latinx community; there are dozens of families who speak different languages that we can connect more to if we had more bilingual speakers.”

As a responder, Flores-Noriega is looking to bridge the gap between the CRESS department and the Amherst community, especially in regards to connecting with youth.

“I hope to be able to educate the younger population in Amherst about CRESS and the services we offer and I want them to rely on us…whenever they feel like they need help.”

Flores-Noriega recently facilitated Jones Mayfest, a collaboration between CRESS and the Jones Library offering activities for youth participants and educational resources about the department and the library’s relocation as it undergoes renovation.

Flores-Noriega would like to see CRESS become better integrated into the Amherst community through community outreach initiatives and is hoping to see a stronger collaboration between CRESS, the Amherst Police Department (ADP) and the Amherst Fire Department (AFD) to allow the departments to work “more as a big team.”

“I do feel like CRESS is a bit hidden because we did move locations from the second floor (of the Bangs Community Center) to …the basement level. I feel like we need more accessibility. And for us, I feel like we’re doing a lot more outreach…basically walking around the community too, just to scope out what the community needs…to talk to new neighbors.”