SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — The sister of Shakeira Rucker, the Winter Springs woman who was allegedly murdered by her estranged husband has started a new non-profit organization called “For My Sister Foundation.
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The organization is dedicated to helping those who are victims of domestic violence.
“Through this pain, I found my purpose,” says Leonia Thornton after speaking today at the Violence Against Women Act Summit and Resource Sharing event in Apopka on Thursday.
Thornton says through “For My Sister,” they hope to provide wraparound services to domestic violence victims, so women don’t have to seek out multiple resources.
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Thornton says affordable housing for victims it at the top of her list to do at the organization.
“A lot of things that she sustained was because of the shortage of housing,” says Thornton. And the need to find a secure haven, a safe place. Thornton says Rucker would keep going back to live with her estranged husband, Cory Hill who is now facing a murder charge for her death. “And so what I wanted to do was create a foundation to provide a safe haven for victims so they don’t have to run back to their abusers,” Thornton says.
Rucker disappeared from her Winter Springs apartment.
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Days later her body was discovered in a storage unit in Apopka.
“I knew I couldn’t save my sister, but I know I can save someone else’s,” says Thornton.
“I know she’s proud of me. And like day two before we found her, well, day two into her being missing. It’s like she came to me. And she said, You got this? And I think that’s where I found my strength from.”
You can find more information on my Sister Foundation here
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