El Futuro’s Executive Director, Dr. Luke Smith, launched our 2023 Spring into Action Campaign with these Mental Health Month reflections. We invite you to read, be inspired, and consider how you will Spring into Action this May.
Dear friend,
What’s the farthest you’ve ever traveled to get medical treatment?
I was reflecting on that question the other day when a family drove up to El Futuro’s Durham clinic at 5pm one Friday afternoon – having just arrived from Atlanta. They’d gone down there to bring home their young adult daughter who was suffering from confusion and psychotic thoughts. They all sat together on the couch in my office – looking at me with a mix of fear and desperation.
They were desperate for help.
Desperate may sound like a heavy word, but it often requires getting to that point before a person or a family reaches out for mental health support.
Each day, our staff sit with people who are desperate for help. For relief. For hope. And with their exceptional training and culturally-responsive capacities, El Futuro staff help move families forward.
From desperation to self-reflection.
From hopelessness to a plan forward.
From frustration to action.
And when it comes to mental health, don’t we all want to be able to take actions?!
This May, during our Spring into Action Campaign, El Futuro will be inspiring you with actions you can take during mental health awareness month.
The first action I hope you consider taking is to donate to El Futuro to provide a unique space where families can chart a new path to health and hope.
Which is what we did with the young woman and her family from Atlanta. Her health was worth traveling 400 miles. We are so glad she did! Our team has worked with her family to listen to their concerns, to provide psycho-education to understand their loved one’s special situation and to explore the best treatment options.
Thank you for making all of this possible.
With thanks,
Luke Smith, MD, Psychiatrist and Executive Director
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