El Futuro’s 2023 Annual Expresiones Fall Fundraiser and Art Auction: Expresiones brought the community of Durham together for an unforgettable night supporting mental health services for the Latino community. This event included Azteca Grill’s delectable Mexican cuisine and desserts from Pure Soul that fueled everybody for the dance party after enjoying the local artist’s masterpieces. Two hundred fifty people attended the event with smiles and laughter echoing through The RickHouse, moving to the music with their colorful cocktail attire and dancing that lasted late into the evening. Guests compared the event’s elegance to the Latin Grammys and expressed how they loved the creative moss decorations at the tables and knew it would be a great night as soon as they walked in, describing their favorite thing about the event: the vibe! We know that “la cultura cura,” and we can achieve more profound healing for our community through expressions of cultural knowledge and practices, which everybody proudly participated in this event.
Expresiones is a Form of Art
Cambridge Dictionary defines expressions as saying what you think or showing how you feel using words or actions. The expressions of everybody who attended our art auction spoke volumes in support of our mission at El Futuro, as the community of Durham expressed their love and support. The art from our local artists, the words spoken by Luke, our Executive Director, Rocio, and Rosa, our Board Members, and everybody having a good time created a synergistic energy of our mission: creating brighter futures for familias. Our Advancement Manager, Mary Coffman, described the event as a “powerful, vibrant, energizing, hope-filled, fun, joyful night for Durham and our organization.” The most meaningful expressions came from everyone who attended the event; the love and support for El Futuro’s mission was palpable. Ms. Carol Garth encapsulates the event as she smiles from ear to ear, proudly wearing the Crown the Hero crown with joy radiating from her. One guest voiced, “After seeing El Futuro’s logo at the front (on the chalkboard) surrounded by all those colorful flowers and the palms, I will always think of El Futuro and the work it does as vibrant and hope-filled.” Vibrant is a great word to describe our work at El Futuro because our services reignite the vibrancy inside our clients and the vibrancy in their lives and futures.
Thank you
Each year, we have had the ability to grow our services and touch more people’s lives because of the community’s support of our organization. We wouldn’t be here without you, and thanks to you, our community’s mental health is improving, resulting in a healthier society. Thank you to the donors, supporters, local businesses, and Artists for helping us give mental health a voice, break mental health stigmas, and help families in our community enjoy a world full of expresiones. Thank you for bringing your smiles, dance moves, presence, and loving energies to support our organization and the mental health services we provide. This night, full of Expresiones, was possible thanks to the generous contributions of local businesses and individuals who gave their time and resources. We appreciate their continued generosity, which helps El Futuro thrive and move forward with the mission. $130,000 was raised, with 100% of the proceeds supporting El Futuro’s mental health and substance use treatment services. Muchisimas gracias, thank you so much to all the attendees, sponsors, and donors for helping create an extraordinary event to honor and support El Futuro’s work with Latino mental health. Our Executive Director, Luke Smith, said, “Thank you for helping us to continue to lay such a strong foundation for El Futuro’s efforts, helping us to serve people now y pa’lante (and onward).”
Article written by Candy Moreira BSN RN
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