El Futuro, Scrap Exchange, Catholic Charities and the Cole Mill Road Church of Christ taking clothing donations to families at the border, organizing vigil
[DURHAM, NC—DEC. 19, 2019] El Futuro, Scrap Exchange, Catholic Charities and the Cole Mill Road Church of Christ are teaming up to donate new or gently used warm clothing to immigrant families who are stuck at the Mexico-US border during this holiday season. The organizations will transport items to The Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley’s Humanitarian Respite Center in a caravan, which deploys the day after Christmas.
The Catholic Charities’ Humanitarian Respite Center is located on the Mexico-US border to provide a place of refuge for families to rest, have a warm meal, shower, change into clean clothes, as well as receive medicine and other supplies. They have expressed desperate need of warm winter clothing to share with the families.
“We cannot forget the suffering happening at our border,” says Maria Luisa Solis who immigrated from Mexico and now lives in North Carolina. “My heart goes out to the mothers, fathers and children who are spending Christmas this year far away from their families.” Tim Wood lives in Cedar Grove and attends the Cole Mill Road Church of Christ. “After all we’ve heard in the news this year about the mess at the border, it was hard to celebrate Christmas without doing something to help out.”
A candlelight vigil for all those suffering on the border and in refugee camps around the world will be held in the El Futuro therapeutic garden on December 25 at 5:30pm. Mexican hot chocolate will be served afterwards.
How can you help?
- Donations accepted at Scrap Exchange main building (2050 Chapel Hill Road). They are open Sunday-Friday 11am-7pm and Saturdays 10am-7pm and will close early at 3pm on Christmas Eve. Please let the front desk employee know it is a donation for the Christmas Caravan to the Border to ensure it is properly categorized for the border relief effort.
- Make a financial donation to the Humanitarian Respite Center
- Attend the candlelight vigil on December 25 at 5:30pm in the El Futuro therapeutic garden (2020 Chapel Hill Road) to remember the tens of thousands of immigrant families who are on the border this holiday season either in refugee camps, detention centers, or wandering in the desert. Your thoughts, prayers and acts of service are needed.
Learn more about the situation at the border by listening to this podcast episode “The Out Crowd” by This American Life
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Contact:
Tim Wood (English) (984) 244-2205
Maria Luisa Solis (Spanish) (919) 808-4464
About El Futuro
Our mission is to nurture stronger familias to live out their dreams. We do this by receiving people here in North Carolina who are hurting, often from the effects of traumas suffered in their home country or on a dangerous migration to our community. We provide timely mental health treatment to help children and families heal and live brighter futures. We’re excited to partner with these proactive community agencies to extend our mission to the families in refugee camps and detention centers on the US-Mexico border this holiday season as a reminder that they are worthy, loved, valued, and not forgotten, and that there is hope for the future. www.elfuturo-nc.org
About Scrap Exchange
Our mission is to promote creativity, environmental awareness, and community through reuse. It’s only fitting that we now help repurpose warm clothing to help the many families who are on the frigid border this winter. We will accept donations at our Thrift Store of new or gently used clothing. We’re excited to work with our community to reach out and help in this special way during the holiday season! www.scrapexchange.org
About Cole Mill Road Church of Christ:
Just as the magi did long ago, we will take gifts to the children and families who are outside the walls, on the fringes of society, and in refugee camps along the Mexico-US border. We will travel from North Carolina to Texas to bring gifts to those who, like Jesus and his family in Bethlehem, were separated from friends and family and stranded a long way from home. This holiday season we celebrate the birth of one who brings love, unity, justice, and peace. www.colemillroad.org
About The Humanitarian Respite Center for Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley
The Respite Center is working to restore human dignity on the border by providing a place for men, women and children to rest, have a warm meal, shower, change into clean clothes, as well as receive medicine and other supplies. www.catholiccharitiesrgv.org
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