Virginia Reed

There is a definite before and after in 47-year-old Virginia Reed’s life. Before, she suffered through decades of an undiagnosed, untreated and debilitating panic disorder, bouts of severe depression, two abusive and life-threatening marriages, an addiction to alcohol and drugs and the shame and loneliness of living on the streets. After, she received an Associate of Arts, Cum Laude from Los Angeles Community College (LACC) in Human Services, Drug and Alcohol Counseling and was the Valedictorian of her class, numerous awards in regional and national Debate Team, Impromptu Speaking and Policy Debate competitions, the California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA) School of Social Work Alumni Certificate of Honor and, with a 4.0 grade point average, graduated Summa Cum Laude from the 2004 Bachelor of Arts in Social Work (BSW) class at CSULA.

Virginia was raised by her father in a cooperative farming community in Colorado that fostered a sense of belonging. When she was a teenager she left her small town and went to live with her mother in the city. At 16 she had her first child. At 17 she suffered what her doctor called “nerve problems”, problems that lasted for two and a half decades and disrupted all aspects of Virginia’s life. For years Virginia experienced extreme physical distress; her head would pound, her heart would race, she feared that she was loosing control and going crazy. “I started drinking to control my anxiety. I took the edge off by drinking.”

After divorcing her abusive first husband, Virginia followed a long-distance love to California where she was finally diagnosed with a panic disorder. But the drugs she was given to control her symptoms sent her into a depression and made her unable to work. Virginia married her long-distance love, who had been supportive during her quest to get help, only to find that he was a “Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde.” “I was already drinking alcohol and taking excessive amounts of medication. When I started getting beaten I fled to the streets because I had no place else to go. I was ashamed to call my family in Colorado and ask for help and I was afraid that if I went back to Colorado he would find my family and me and hurt us. So I stayed on the streets.”

While on the streets of Hollywood and Downtown, Virginia became addicted to illegal drugs, was violently attacked and experienced intense shame and isolation. After an arrest, the Hollywood Court assigned Virginia to the Salvation Army’s Safe Harbor 90-day drug treatment program, located in Central City East. “It was crazy and hard to stay sober on Skid Row. I could see it and smell it.” After two months in the program Virginia began to understand that she had a choice, “I realized that I could choose to be a victim or a survivor, and I wasn’t going to be a victim anymore. A victim believes that they don’t deserve anything, that they’re not worthy at all. They’re thankful for a breath of air. I decided that people had reached into the depths of hell and pulled me out and that I was going to overcome. I knew that no one was going to do it for me. I would have to do it myself.”

After graduating from Safe Harbor’s treatment program, Virginia moved into SRO’s Angelus Inn, a permanent sober-living site. The Angelus Inn offered Virginia a support system and a safe environment. With this support and safety she began putting her life back together by working part-time, attending school and learning how to manage her panic disorder through cognitive behavioral therapy. First came a certificate in drug and alcohol counseling from Los Angeles Community College. Then, because Virginia realized she needed “more skills and knowledge to be truly helpful” and she believed in the ‘person in environment’ philosophy of Social Work, she enrolled at CSULA’s Social Work school. In June 2004 she graduated as the Valedictorian for the Bachelor in Arts in Social Work class. Virginia recently completed an internship in SRO’s Project Hotel Alert program and plans to pursue a Master’s in Social Work degree with a focus on Administration and Policy. On August 2, 2004 she was hired by SRO for the position of Community Organizer.

Virginia says that she now has “control of what happens next. I can control the space in front of me. What’s behind is over and done.” Virginia credits her success, her sobriety, certification, degrees and academic honors, with her environment. “What I’ve been able to do is about what’s around me. I didn’t get where I am by myself. I had the support of my neighbor, my hotel manager, my teachers, SRO, the staff… everyone’s been there. There is a sense of community on Skid Row that feeds my roots. I grew up with a sense of belonging but I lost that. Now I have a home and a stake in the neighborhood.”