ANDREW TORRES
atorres@cityofpeekskill.com

I was born and raised in Rockland County. My parents moved there in the early 1950s from Puerto Rico. My father worked at World Wide Volkswagen and my mother was an assistant teacher in the public schools. My brother and I are the first generation in our family born off the island of Puerto Rico.

After graduating from North Rockland High School, I attended St. Thomas Aquinas College, from which I graduated with a BS in Business Administration/Marketing. I also hold a Master of Science degree in Community Economic Development from New Hampshire College.

My entire career has focused on improving the quality of life for individuals and communities. I worked for several years in a Community Action Agency, working my way up to become Director of Community Services and later, Director of Economic Development. After seeing what HIV was doing to the lives of individuals and families, I decided to make a career change and apply my skills and knowledge from economic development to the field of HIV services, where I have worked for the past 11 years.

I was the Coordinator of the Lower Hudson HIV Care Network, responsible for organizing HIV service providers in Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam Counties to insure that necessary services were identified, developed, funded and implemented. Throughout this process, I worked closely with federal, state and local officials. Currently, I work at New York Presbyterian Hospital as a Provider Relations Representative for Select Health, an insurance plan that provides health coverage for Medicaid-eligible persons with HIV.

My wife and I moved to Peekskill in 1997 and fell in love with the city and its people. I am a member of St. Peters Episcopal Church, where I served on the vestry for six (6) years. My wife and I purchased a home in Peekskill in December 2006. We have two young sons.

I look forward to working together with the residents of Peekskill, Mayor Foster, Council members and other officials to bring forth positive, successful growth to our beautiful city.