On Thursday, April 28th, the Cortés’ brothers, Esperanza’s Founder, CEO, and President Reverend Luis Cortés Jr. and Executive Vice President & Chief Operations Officer Reverend Danny Cortés, received the “Love in Action” award at Cora’s 50th Anniversary Gala for their dedication and service to Hispanic families in Philadelphia. The event was held at the National Constitution Center.

Kristi Tedeschi, our Elementary and Middle School Special Education Coordinator, attended the event and shared about Cora’s work, saying, “Cora is an organization that provides counseling, referral and specialized services to children in Philly. Cora is our [Student Assistance Program] provider for the Academy. When we have students who need outside counseling, psych[ological] evaluations, struggling with addiction or mental health issues, Cora comes and does a free evaluation and sets them up with services. This year for their 50th anniversary they wanted to honor other families and partner organizations that support the same values of service to the community.”

When speaking about the Esperanza organization (click here for the video), Reverend Danny Cortés said, “I’ve always had a vision for a long term service in a particular community. I’ve always felt that in order to have impact, you needed to hang around.” Congratulations to the Reverends and thank you for the long term impact you have made in our community!

Photo: Rev. Dr. Lorina Marshall Blake, President of Independence Blue Cross Foundation, poses for a photo with the Reverends and their award. Photo taken by Kristi Tedeschi.