This Foundation is named in honor of my sister, Cennea Thorla Guidry, a 29-year-old wife and mother of two young children who was murdered on January 7, 2001, outside of Lafayette, LA. Cennea knew her life was in danger, confiding in multiple people the week before her death that she believed she would be killed. She was actively working on plans to take her children and leave her marriage when her body was discovered in a ditch one mile from her home.

When Cennea died, she left 2 children, 5 and 10 years old at the time. As the years went on and I had a son of my own, it occurred to me that they were robbed of knowing the generous, vibrant, adoring woman who was their mother. Murder has a way of diminishing a person until all that appears to be left of them is their victimhood. My sister, though, has always been and will forever be so much more than the manner of her death. I want her children and the world to know Cennea as the compassionate, loving, human force that she was.

I last saw my sister over the Thanksgiving holiday in 2000. She told me her marriage was essentially over and she was excited about her plans to start a new life in which she could be more independent. She was particularly excited about the opportunity to return to school. Cennea had not finished high school, and her inability to support herself and her children proved a substantial obstacle to creating a life free of abuse.