Get delicious, locally-roasted, sustainably sourced coffee from Anima Sana! 100% of the profits will support El Futuro’s mission
Victor Bennett founded Anima Sana with the help of Little Waves Roaster and Cocoa Cinnamon in Durham, NC. The primary goal of Anima Sana is to provide resources for mental health for people who could really use it now. Everyone working on Anima Sana volunteers their time so 100% of the proceeds can go to organizations. El Futuro is grateful to be the first recipient.
During the pandemic, Victor realized that many Hispanics were put in tremendously stressful situations. They made up a lot of the essential jobs, were hourly workers who didn’t have the savings cushion to not work, or had family relying on their income. Many people in those situations didn’t have the resources to get mental health support to cope.
Even those who were able to get support often didn’t have counselors familiar with their particular cultural considerations. Having grown up in a very diverse community in San Diego, CA, he knew how different populations were often lumped together but the culture–and skills–of each could be so different.
Seeing these diverse communities living here in North Carolina, Victor was influenced to do something to support Latino mental health. The Black Lives Matters movement shining a light on the similar challenges faced by the Black community made him want to extend his work to help that community.
Looking at how much need there is, he would like to do more: “If we can scale this up, we can make a difference. People can get good coffee, contribute to the organizations benefiting from the proceeds, support Little Waves Roaster and Cocoa Cinnamon and help their staff stay employed during COVID-19, of which they help develop farmers and that part of the business helps support Durham, NC.” With the help of his partners, intern Nathalia Borges, and El Futuro he is on the path to do just that.
Visit www.animasana.co and see all products they are offering. Share this neat opportunity with your friends and family so that they too can help support and enjoy a delicious cafecito.
Alvely Alcántara, LCSW
Rossy C. Garcia, MEd 
Katy Sims, MD 
Everardo Aviles, LCSW, LCAS (Eve)
As a medical anthropologist and social work researcher, Dr. Gulbas’ research embodies interdisciplinarity through the integration of applied theories of health and human development with qualitative and ethnographic methodologies. Her work seeks to understand how people—children, families, and providers—navigate complex sociocultural landscapes in the pursuit of mental health. Most of her work, to date, focuses attention on developing more robust interpretations of suicide risk. With funding from the National Institutes of Mental Health, this body of research has contributed to advancements in theoretical and empirical knowledge of the broader contexts within which youth suicide risk is situated. 
R. Gabriela Barajas-Gonzalez is a developmental psychologist and an assistant professor of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Dr. Barajas-Gonzalez is the principal investigator of a study that examines the impact of immigration-related threat and stress on school communities. She earned a PhD in developmental psychology from Columbia University and hold a BA in human biology from Stanford University. Dr. Barajas-Gonzalez is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and a first gen college student.
Dr. Parra-Cardona is an Associate Professor in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work (SHSSW) at the University of Texas at Austin. At the SHSSW, he serves as Coordinator for Mexico and Latin American initiatives. He also serves as Area Director for Research at the UT Austin Latino Research Institute. Dr. Parra-Cardona’s program of research is focused on the cultural adaptation of evidence-based parenting interventions for low-income Latinx populations in the US and Latin America.
Bianka Reese, PhD, MSPH is a research scientist and program evaluator specializing in adolescent and young adult sexual and reproductive health. Her previous research in the experiences of Latinx LGBTQ+ youth stems from her work as the Research and Evaluation Manager at SHIFT NC (Sexual Initiatives For Teens), where she led largescale evaluations of multilevel, community-based sexual health promotion initiatives and research projects aimed at elevating the voices of diverse youth in North Carolina. Dr. Reese is currently the Senior Research Strategist at Creative Research Solutions, LLC, an award-winning national evaluation, research, and assessment firm.
Tania Connaughton-Espino, MPH is an independent researcher focused on adolescent and young adult sexual and reproductive health. Her interest in the experiences of Latinx LGBTQ+ youth stems from her previous work with SHIFT NC (Sexual Initiatives For Teens), where she led the training and evaluation department, conducted capacity-building workshops for youth serving professionals including on the topic of how to be more affirming of LGBTQ youth, and from her extensive experience working with the Latinx population in NC.
Maru Gonzalez, EdD is an Assistant Professor and Youth Development Specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences at North Carolina State University. Her areas of inquiry include youth development with a focus on activism, social justice, and the experiences of LGBTQ+ young people across familial, school, and community contexts. 
Nayeli Y. Chavez-Dueñas, PhD
Hector Y. Adames, PsyD