I am brave, I am bruised
I am who I’m meant to be, this is me
Look out ’cause here I come
And I’m marching on to the beat I drum
I’m not scared to be seen
I make no apologies, this is me

We are so proud of our 2018 Esperanza Graduates and had a chance to celebrate them at our 16th Annual Graduation on May 10, 2018.  This year around more than 100 young people graduated from Esperanza and the celebration was a time to honor all of their hard work and accomplishments.   To get the evening started, Supervisor Chantelle Doswell sang a beautiful rendition of This Is Me from The Greatest Showman (lyrics excerpted above), which was a wonderful start to the program.   In the audience, cheering on each graduate, were Esperanza staff, colleagues from the Department of Probation and Courts, graduates and their families all joining together to honor the work that each of our graduates and their family members did while in Esperanza.

And of course, it wouldn’t be a party without food!  The plentiful and delicious spread included generous donations from Fairway Market and Insomnia Cookies.  Photography services were donated by Jayne Wexler who took gorgeous family portraits – thank you Jayne!  And a very special thank you to Victor Trager and the staff from 636 Broadway for all their support and for letting this great place be our home.

We wish all of our 2018 graduates tremendous success in their future and look forward to keeping in touch and hearing about all their future accomplishments and just how they are!