El Centro Hispano has been helping Latin American and Hispanic people in North Carolina for more than 30 years. They work in 23 counties, such as Durham County, where Rubi Morales, head of the community health department, said a lot of work needs to be done.
“We want to make sure the community understands how it’s important to go to the doctor,” said Morales. “To know how better the life is going to be if they prevent diabetes, for example.”
At least 14% of Durham residents identified as Hispanic or Latino in 2010, and another 14% said they were foreign born. This shows that the Latino group is growing quickly in the Bull City.
“That’s why we’re always looking for what the necessities are … what their barriers are for health access,” he said.
Morales hopes that the help keeps coming with each screening and even the food boxes that are given to people in need in the areas they serve.
A group called El Centro Hispano can be found at Super Compare Foods in North Durham at least twice a month. They offer health screenings and information about health options.
“I know there is a lot of things that we need, that has to be done,” Morales added. “But they are also always ready to accept the help we offer.” They are always willing to get the shots and learn more about what we have to offer.
In addition to helping the community, El Futuro is also a mental health care service for Latinos.
Luke Smith, Executive Director, said that he has seen a rise in the need for this kind of care in Bull City, especially among young people.
“We are seeing that one out of every three students in the schools is Latino,” said Smith. “We’re getting a lot of different kinds of people from Latin America who are proud of their culture but far from their home communities.” “That’s a lot of stress.”
Smith said that these stresses are the reason why they’ve been helping Hispanic and Latin American people for 20 years by offering services like therapy and psychiatry, mental health care for teens and young adults, and help for people who use drugs.
Smith said, “When they find us, it’s like an oasis.” “They say, Oh, finally I found help, and it’s from people who talk the language I talk … and that feels so refreshing.”
Smith said that it’s important to take care of Latinos’ mental health, but that the community could always use more help.
“There’s a lot of different levels of action that we can bring … to make them feel a part of the bigger community, that’s in our schools and our workplaces,” he said. “But then once they’re here to celebrate culture, that has added something positive to our bigger community that’s making all of us stronger.”