HER STORY
Jaye Turner is a young woman who experienced the foster system from her parent's neglect and abandonment at a young age.
Growing up, that traumatic experience stayed with her and shaped her journey through life.
Lacking identity and self-worth, she struggled to be accepted and often overlooked by family.
She struggled with homelessness at 18, and while trying to finish her senior year of high school, then soon became a teen mother.
In 2015, Jaye embarked on another journey where she discovered a man who promised to change her life forever.
He saved her and gave her her freedom. She soon received healing and found her identity while growing to know her self worth.
This man restored everything in her life that was lost and accepted her where she was at in life, but even more than that, he gave her an unexplainable love that was once only imaginable. His name is Jesus.
With a heart full of compassion, she desired to reach those in the foster care system and young adults who are homeless. Jaye obtained her license to foster and adopt in the summer of 2017. She also served in one of the shelters where she and her son had once lived.
In 2019 with the same desire and compassion in her heart, Jaye desired to help those who are where she has been.
She created El'lesun with a vision to bring light inside of a community that deserves healing and restoration.
ABOUT EL'LESUN
El'lesun is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that is truly passionate about making great impacts in the lives of those who are in foster care through advocacy in sharing every story, raising awareness of their needs, and serving through our small but intimate programs. Our hope is to collaborate with other community partners, individuals, and experts to help create a brighter future for those of the community.
OUR MISSION
EDUCATE others about foster care.
ADVOCATE for the needs of those in foster care.
SERVE those of the foster care community.
OUR VISION
Our vision is to see our community walk in their true identity, knowing who and Whose they are by cultivating HEALING within hearts and RESTORATION in every life.
STATISTICS
According to the most recent federal data, there are currently more than 400,000 children in foster care in the United States.
On any given day in Ohio, nearly 16,000 children are being cared for away from their parents.
More than 23,000 children will age out of the US foster care system every year.
After reaching the age of 18, 20% of the children who were in foster care will become instantly homeless.
Only 1 out of every 2 foster kids who age out of the system will have some form of gainful employment by the age of 24.
There is less than a 3% chance for children who have aged out of foster care to earn a college degree at any point in their life.
7 out of 10 girls who age out of the foster care system will become pregnant before the age of 21.
The percentage of children who age out of the foster care system and still suffer from the direct effects of PTSD are 25%
*Children and teens enter foster care through no fault of their own, because they have been abused, neglected, or abandoned and are unable to continue living safely with their families.