More than 350 people gathered at the Crystal Tea Room of the Wanamaker Building for the 11th annual Lutheran Settlement House Women of Courage awards ceremony and luncheon on Wednesday, May 18. The ceremony paid tribute to women making a difference in the community and served as a major fundraiser for the Lutheran Settlement House (LSH), a non-profit community organization located on Frankford Avenue in Fishtown that serves homeless families and individuals in the area.

Welcoming remarks were given by Mayor Jim Kenney before the first award was presented to Karen Hudson of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for Community Advocacy. Hudson serves as the program leader of CHOP’s Homeless Health Initiative. This initiative provides LSH’s homeless shelter with important health services and educational sessions. In her acceptance speech, Hudson fought back tears as she told the audience, “I challenge all of us to pay it forward. To make the world a better, brighter, and safer place.”

Wendy Hamilton, the General Manager of SugarHouse Casino, was presented with the Visionary Leader award. SugarHouse has worked closely with LSH in their employment program and spoke to the audience about their efforts to create jobs through the casino’s expansion. In addition, Hamilton leads a largely female leadership team at SugarHouse.

When asked about SugarHouse’s involvement with LSH, Hamilton responded, “We love the work that Lutheran Settlement House is doing, so to be honored by this group is something that’s really very meaningful for everyone at SugarHouse. I’m the lucky person that gets to be the face of it but they’re really doing good work and we like to support them in any way that we can.”