The ELLA Foundation
Cause Area
- Advocacy & Human Rights
- Children & Youth
- Community
- Crisis Support
- Justice & Legal
Location
222 FURR DRSAN ANTONIO, TX 78201 United StatesOrganization Information
Mission Statement
The ELLA Foundation™ is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation based in San Antonio, TX. Our mission is to prevent violence and to advocate for human rights through education, criminal justice reform, and victim advocacy.
Description
In March of 1980, Charity Lee's father, James Robert Bennett Jr. was murdered in her home. Her mother was subsequently arrested, charged, tried, and acquitted of murder-for-hire. Had she been found guilty, she would have been sentenced to life in prison, leaving Charity (for all practical purposes) an orphan at the age of 6.
In February of 2007, after convincing the babysitter to go home, Charity's son Paris sexually assaulted, beat, choked, and stabbed his little sister Ella seventeen times. He was arrested, charged, and pled true (the juvenile equivalent of guilty) to capital murder. He was sentenced to forty years in the Texas Criminal Justice System. He was 13; Ella was 4.
The ELLA Foundation™ is the child born of Charity's pain. We believe there are four things those who create violence and those who suffer violence need to live meaningful and productive lives again after violence has occurred: Empathy, Love, Lessons, & Action. With this in mind, we advocate for and serve both those who commit violence and those who have suffered violence.