SAN ANTONIO — Bennie Price says he lived most of his life in darkness. But with God, he plans to change the community he once terrorized.
“I grew up just a few block from here, called the Wheatley Courts housing projects,” Price said.
The Eastside of San Antonio is his home. But growing up during the crack epidemic, he got caught up in the streets.
“Unfortunately, I took a young man life at the age of 16, and by the age of 18, I was off to prison,” Price said.
Price says he was still committing crimes on the inside until he had a "God experience" after serving 20 years in prison.
“God came in the cell on me and told me to come or I’ll forever be lost,” Price said.
He got out in 2016 and began following God's plan to change his old neighborhood.
“That’s what God put on my heart, to come back to the very place that you created havoc,” he said.
Last year he started the nonprofit Big Mama's Safe House. It is committed to end senseless gang and gun violence.
“We’re trying to reach the people before they get those guns,” Price said. “Because after they get to those guns, it’s kind of hard to take them from them.”
The safe house offers the community free gun locks. So Price is all for the Safer Communities Act investing in gun safety.
“For them to agree to do something is a start,” he said.
The new legislation will provide $250 million in prevention initiatives. Price was invited to celebrate the bipartisan bill in Washington D.C. — an opportunity he never imagined.
“I’m a kid from the projects,” Price said. “The White House is a fairytale to us.”
Although the trip to D.C. was life-changing, Price hopes that the federal money makes it to organizations like Big Mama's Safe House so they can continue addressing gun violence in Texas.
“By them passing this bill, they’re saying we’re starting somewhere,” Price said. “And I think we can grow on that as well.”