4 the fundation

“it mas agony, I didn’t want any mother to feel the same pain, so… I took action”. Due to
living not one but two awful events in her life, she decided to sell her company and found
the Juan Felipe Gomez Escobar Foundation with two main purposes: to not only save
children’s lives, but also to work with teen mothers who live in extreme poverty, by
providing opportunities so they can overcome poverty traps (unwanted pregnancies, lack
of real economic opportunities, lack of quality education, lack of proper access to
healthcare, domestic and sexual violence, and gender discrimination)

“Juanfe” is a non-profit organization that seeks to improve the quality of life of children
and teenage mothers in poverty conditions mainly in the city of Cartagena de Indias,
Colombia.

6 cnn heroes and other awards

Since she dedicated herself to helping those people, always acting passionate and
selflessly, she got recognized. Consequently in 2012 Catalina Escobar Restrepo was
selected as part of the “CNN Heroes” program. This television special was created by CNN
to honor individuals who make extraordinary contributions to humanitarian aid and make
a difference in their communities. Which means that Mrs. Catalina has been recognized
internationally as a authentic HERO.

Even though she didn’t win the “CNN hero of the year” award, she was part of the TOP 10
heroes, and that’s a very important recognition.

She received the Order of Merit Silver Cross from the hands of the president Juan Manuel
Santos. On top of that she was awarded with the humanitarian award from the
organization "World of Children”