Helping veterans is something Luis A. Cortes is passionate about. As the head of a local organization that helps veterans get information on their benefits, the NVC student was recently awarded a scholarship for helping others.

The Edwards Ministerial Association, Inc. (EMA) awarded him $1,000 scholarship for his service to his country and fellow veterans. Luis was in the U.S. Army for 12 years and was medically separated as a second lieutenant due to an injury he sustained while performing an airborne operation.

Luis said this scholarship is going to help him pay for his last required classes to finish his NVC Associate of Arts in Sociology.

“This associate’s degree  is going to help me gain more knowledge and skills that are required to be able to counsel veterans and their families to apply and obtain state and federal  veteran’s entitlements,” Luis added. “Any person I work with will know that I have the education and knowledge in order to have earned my degree and work in that field of study.

Brigadier General, Dr. Charles W. Edwards, started the Austin-based EMA as a nonprofit organization that ministers to disabled veterans and other organizations in government, education and law enforcement. Dr. Edwards awarded Luis the check on Nov. 18 at NVC.

Luis says he’s just a few classes away from receiving his third associate degree. He already has a bachelor’s degree under his belt in Criminal Justice and hopes to become an attorney one day to be able to represent veterans and their dependents on a volunteer basis.

In addition to being a part of NVC’s Leadership Honor Society and Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, Luis also served for the past six years as a commander of the Disabled American Veterans Kel-Lac Chapter 114 in  Helotes, which helps disabled vets access their military benefits.