Transparency
El Futuro is North Carolina’s leading provider of accessible, bilingual, and culturally-responsive mental health services for the Latino community. We’re proud to know that our top source of referrals is friends and family members of current and former clients. We’re also leading the way in training, technical assistance, and advocacy efforts to increase the quality and accessibility of bilingual and culturally-responsive mental health services in North Carolina and beyond.
True success to us is when our clients are able to thrive at home, school, and work, living out the dreams that brought them to our community in the first place.
Success Stories
“Letting Go with Love”
The unexpected death of their father was a crushing blow for this family. After 20 years of marriage she was suddenly a single, working mom struggling to keep the family together while numbed by grief. Her 6 year-old daughter was sad, irritable and isolating from others. Her youngest son was angry and struggling to understand that his “Papi” would never return home. A friend suggested they go to El Futuro for help.
At El Futuro they cried, laughed, grieved and found a safe space for mourning. As part of her therapy the daughter wrote a book called “Letting Go with Love” about the loss of her father, which she shared with her extended family. Now she is smiling again, her brother is able to sleep and their mom is able to work full time. Their perseverance and grace has been an inspiration for everyone at El Futuro.
“Growth”
When you’re 8 years old, you shouldn’t have to live in a homeless shelter with your mother and two siblings. You shouldn’t have to witness your dad abusing your mother. You shouldn’t have to go hungry. You shouldn’t have to get picked on for crying in class. Three years ago others saw him as too sensitive and a behavior problem. His mother brought him to El Futuro with the hope of getting him help for the problems she also knew very well – depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress. Now, after therapy and treatment with medication, he has found his voice and his mother glows with joy when she speaks of how he has grown. The family now lives in a small duplex. They spend weekends at the park. He can sleep through the night with no nightmares and is kind to his younger brother. His school celebrates his progress as well. He made the A Honor Roll and received the Principal Award. His mother also found help at El Futuro and feels proud of her children and is reaffirmed as a mom. She says, “Ahorita me quiero yo, porque antes no me quiero yo.” (Now I like myself, before I didn’t.)
“Smiling and laughing”
She slumped in her chair with her head down the first time she came to El Futuro. She felt sad, worried and didn’t know who to trust. The obsessive thoughts and ritualistic behaviors caused her to not eat or sleep. She stayed away from friends and stopped trying at school. Her parents found help at El Futuro and now, several months later, she is smiling, attending school and laughs with her little sister.
Annual Reports
We simply couldn’t do the work that we do without the consistent and generous support of donors, partners, sponsors and volunteers. We are so grateful and excited to share our work and results for each year. Please check out our most recent 2024 report below and also we invite you to download and read the previous reports as well.
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