The origins of Collin, A.C. date to 2020, when Drew Johnson began working with people on the move in Oaxaca.
A US citizen raised partly in Latin America, Drew came to Oaxaca from northern Colombia where he had been helping Venezuelan people fleeing social disintegration, providing them with food, clothing, housing, and help in sourcing equipment to start small businesses in their host country.
Arriving from Colombia to Oaxaca in 2019, Drew began volunteering with a local shelter helping people transiting the State of Oaxaca. When that closed in March 2020, Drew began serving food and delivering other assistance to people on the move.
Encouraged by social media mentions and word of mouth, others began to volunteer and donate to Drew’s work. As a result, he was quickly able to gather enough funds to rent a tiny kitchen in the Mercado Centenario public market next to the Jardín Morelos park, where people on the move congregated.
As many more volunteers began arriving to the kitchen, a volunteer who had been knitting hats and sweaters for people on the move, offered to setup and manage a highly successful sign-up page to coordinate helpers. With the group evolving into a more formal operation, Drew invited Elisa González Morales and Mayra Hernández Rivera, two former colleagues from the shuttered shelter, to help with the administration.
In August 2023, the group registered with the Mexican government as a legal not-for-profit asociación civil under the name Collin, A.C., Centro de Apoyo para Migrantes Universales. Governed by a formal board of directors, the new non-governmental organization developed working committees, for Grants & Fundraising, Staff & Volunteer Training, and Communications and Outreach.