Stigma around mental health and a lack of resources available in Spanish means many individuals in North Carolina’s Latino community are going without needed resources.

Camino Health Center wants to change the situation, and is launching an effort to spread the word about Spanish-speaking therapists and counselors available to residents in the Charlotte region.

Dr. Carolina Benitez, director of the Behavioral Health Clinic at Camino Health Center, said language is the number one barrier Latino residents face.

“I know that the number of therapists who can speak Spanish will are fully bilingual is small,” Benitez observed. “That is actually a great need within this community and actually throughout the state.”

Research shows although the nation’s Hispanic population is increasing, the number of mental-health facilities offering treatment in Spanish declined by more than 17% between 2014 and 2019, across 44 states.

North Carolina has seen its Latino population soar over the past decade to more than one million, which includes individuals born in the U.S. and immigrants from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Benitez added financial and other obstacles often accompanying immigration to the U.S. can contribute to depression and anxiety in this population.

“Issues with documentation status will affect transportation needs (and) will also affect health access to health insurance, sustainable work,” Benitez outlined.

She encouraged residents to seek help by contacting the center at 704-596-5606.

“We will be happy to connect them with a social navigator who can help them understand more about our services, understand more about the situation that they’re in and the resources that are available to them,” Benitez explained.

According to the Hispanic Research Center, more than one third of Latino families have experienced a mental-health disorder, including depression, anxiety, substance misuse or PTSD.

Support for the mental-health awareness campaign comes from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and the American Heart Association.

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Florida farmworkers are getting some much-needed support thanks to a grant from the Health, Environment, Agriculture, Labor Food Alliance (HEAL).

The grant of more than $4,000 is being used to distribute food, host vaccine clinics, and help families pay their bills.

Neza Xiuhtecutli, general coordinator and executive director of the Farmworkers Association of Florida, said many farmworker families were ineligible for federal assistance during the pandemic, so the need is great.

“We are helping them with direct assistance to help them pay for rent and some of their utilities,” Xiuhtecutli outlined. “We are also helping with buying food and passing it among some of the neediest families.”

The Farmworkers Association of Florida represents 10,000 members, and about 6,000 families have reached out to seek help. The Association’s ongoing COVID-19 response also includes assistance filling out applications for SNAP, Medicaid and unemployment, distribution of personal protective equipment, and COVID-19 education.

Navina Khanna, executive director of the HEAL Food Alliance, said they are giving out $52,000 in rapid-response grants to food justice organizations targeting communities of color.

“We were seeing that to go through a whole funding process is often very, very cumbersome in terms of an application and reporting requirements and things like that,” Khanna noted. “And that by creating a pool of funds and getting that out to our communities, our communities could do what they need to do.”

The grants are designed to be flexible and can be used as needs arise. They have benefited eight grassroots, BIPOC-led organizations across the country.

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A new law in New York State is expected to keep for-profit lenders from taking advantage of immigrants in detention facilities.

Some people in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement or “ICE” can post bail and be released until their court hearing. The Stop Immigrant Bond Abuse Act or SIMBAA regulates so-called “predatory” lenders making high-interest loans for these immigration bonds.

Prior to the new law, the detainee might sign a contract without a clear understanding of the fine print. Mustafa Jumale, immigration policy manager for the Envision Freedom Fund, described some of the new protections.

“It would prohibit private companies from using electronic shackles,” said Jumale. “It would cap fees and cap interest rates on immigration bonds, and ensure immigrants are not misled by for-profit immigration bond companies.”

Other SIMBAA protections include providing clear contracts in a language the person can understand.

Though many felt this was commonsense legislation, its critics warned that it could limit access to loans for people who need them.

Jumale said the law won’t end for-profit lending – rather, it provides a safeguard for immigrants.

Until now, there hasn’t been a cap in New York for how high these bonds could be. Jumale said he has seen some bonds set as high as $200,000, when the average ranges from $7,500 to $15,000.

While Jumale said he would like to see action on the immigration bond issue at the federal level, he also said he thinks change will start with the states.

“What we hope is that other immigrant rights organizations and civil rights organizations throughout the United States will use this bill as a model to pass in their legislatures,” said Jumale. “We think that’s one of the more effective ways to help regulate this kind of ‘wild, wild West’ industry.”

One immigrant bond company, Libre by Nexus, is being sued by the New York and Virginia Attorneys General, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The company is accused of preying on immigrants in detention centers to get these loans, only to have them pay exorbitant fees and interest rates and be threatened with deportation if they don’t make timely payments.

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The U.S. Department of Justice wants to block an Arizona law that requires what its lawsuit calls “onerous documentary proof of citizenship” in order to register to vote.

Assistant Attorney General Kristin Clarke claims in the lawsuit that Arizona’s bill violates the National Voter Registration Act and would prevent some eligible voters from getting onto the voter rolls for certain federal elections.

Regardless of the court’s decision, said Alex Gulotta, director of the Arizona chapter of All Voting is Local, it won’t affect voters this year – and wouldn’t go into effect until the 2023 and 2024 elections.

“That bill has a new, documented proof-of-residence requirement,” he said. “That basically means that folks that don’t have an Arizona state-issued ID – that’s snowbirds, students, lots of low-income people – are going to have a more difficult time registering to vote in the future.”

Proponents of the law have said it would make elections more secure, but the DOJ complaint suggested it would pose an undue barrier, and that the current laws already verify that only citizens residing in Arizona vote in Arizona.

Meanwhile, Gulotta said, the Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections campaign recently submitted signatures to put a petition on the November ballot. It would create same-day voter registration and automatic voter registration, expand early voting, and also would allow people to deliver absentee ballots by mail to a polling place or to a dropbox for another voter, among other measures.

He said he thinks it’s also important for voters to select candidates who support policies that make it easier to vote – not harder.

“The practical advice is check your registration. Make sure your registration is up-to-date. If there have been any changes, make sure that your address is correct,” he said. “Vote, make a plan to vote, make sure that you and five of your friends and family members also vote.”

The ballot campaign submitted more than 475,000 signatures. The proposal also would require election outreach to Native American tribes, ensure assistance for voters with disabilities, and reduce campaign contribution limits.

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