STACY MORALES is a tax preparer, notary public, and business owner, but more importantly, she is a community leader with a heart for people.
When she was 10, Morales’s family moved back to the U.S. from their home in Mexico, and Morales watched her mother navigate life as a Spanish speaker in Aurora, Colorado. At 16, her family moved to Manchester, and they’ve lived here ever since.
Morales said watching her mom struggle to speak and understand English made her want to do something about it.
“She got pregnant. She was going to her appointments and didn’t know what was going on and what doctors were saying. That made me feel like I should help, but I couldn’t because we didn’t understand.” After she realized other Hispanic families in the community went through the same thing her parents did, she was inspired to start her business.
Morales started helping the Hispanic community in Manchester translate important documents in 2011, one year after she graduated high school. She translated hospital files and court documents and also helped Hispanics in the community travel to and from Mexico to retain their passports.
“I saw a lot of need in the Hispanic community, especially because there are people who don’t speak English or Spanish. They speak a dialect.”
In 2018, Morales opened a small office in her basement to keep track of her workflow and became an official notary public. She helped clients from Shelbyville, McMinnville, and Manchester. With the high volume of clients traveling in and out of her home, she opened her official office, Stacy Morales Hispanic Services, in downtown Manchester in 2021.
Morales gives back to the community by helping them get their Mexican passports, sort out legal documents, and translate documents.
Her in-office team helps six to eight people each week with legal documentation translation, job applications, court interpretation, police reports, making appointments for the Mexican Consulate in Atlanta, and taking clients to Atlanta for their Mexican passports.
They helped around 140 people get a new Mexican passport or get it renewed this past year. Morales said one of her favorite things to do as a business owner and tax preparer is to help others learn how to open their own business. She helps them gather the necessary documentation, learn how to be a successful business owner, and how to prepare their taxes. She has a tax preparation class once a year in July.
Morales said she sees the relief on her clients’ faces after they understand their documents and court-case files. Helping them navigate challenges and bringing her clients relief makes her stronger. In February 2023, Morales began offering English classes for beginners who speak Spanish to learn English after work hours, as her clients requested.
Stacy Morales’s Hispanic Services is a full-service business that offers more than legal help to Hispanic community members. It is an environment where all Hispanic community members can feel free to thrive wherever their paths lead them. It serves as a bridge that connects the Hispanic community and the city of Manchester.
The business celebrated its first Hispanic Festival last June. They plan to continue with their second annual festival this year.
The business participates in community service by hosting the ‘Trash Challenge’ every year in March. This year will be the fourth year for them to participate. The group gathers early on Sunday mornings to pick up trash on the side of the roads.
“We try to participate in every event in town to bring out our Hispanic community.” Morales said she hopes the activities will lead to a more beautiful community. Morales and her husband own a landscaping and concrete business that began in 2016. “We started from the bottom, and I always tell my clients, ‘I am never going to say that I’m an expert, because I’m still learning. Every year is different, but the personal knowledge I have will help you to get started.'”
Morales said her goal for the future is to help bring Hispanic community members out of their comfort zones and understand that this is their community as well. She strives daily to be a better person for herself and her community.
“I always try to be better than the person I was the day before.” GN
