When I stepped into Virginia’s room to interview her for this article, I felt as though I had entered an art museum. Virginia’s art work varies from colorful oil paintings to 3D intricately crafted beaded structures, inspired by her world travels. In fact, Virginia was working on a dragon when I first met her, something she has been working on since September. Virginia uses tweezers to construct images using only the smallest of beads. Virginia states that some projects take up to a year.
“I was born with paint running through my veins,” she said. Through the course of her trials and tribulations, art has always remained a constant source of comfort and inspiration.

Virginia became a ward of the court at the age of 13. Within nine months, she bounced between four foster families, an orphanage, and two county jails. She recalls being sexually abused while in foster care and called it a “vicious, hurtful time.” Soon after, Virginia was admitted to a State Mental Hospital for three years because “they didn’t know what else to do with me.”

At the age of 22, Virginia hitchhiked to Monterey, California, where she was homeless for four years. Virginia fell in love at this time, which led her to Carmel Valley for the next 12 years. Virginia also graduated magna cum laude with a BFA from the Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, California, where she attended on full scholarship. She continued her education and received a double master in Art Therapy and Family and Child Counseling.

Virginia moved to Burlingame and in 1978 became homeless after her rent increased $200 and she simply couldn’t afford it. Virginia recalls being homeless a “morose, depressed” time. “You develop a sense of hopelessness and low self esteem. You feel as though no one cares,” she said.

Virginia started drinking but stopped after a run-in with the law: “Two cops pulled me over in the same morning for suspicion of a DUI, and both let me go. I haven’t had a drop of alcohol since.” With the help of a recovery and treatment program, Virginia has been sober since February 14, 2006.

In 2009, Virginia was selected from the Section 8 housing waitlist, which led her to become a resident of TNDC’s Alexander Residence. Since moving into the Alexander, Virginia says she has had a heightened sense of well-being. She feels very safe in her home and attributes that to accommodations that are made for the elderly and the around-the-clock desk clerks. She is also is impressed with the upkeep of the building and the quick response on behalf of maintenance to work orders… nothing is left unattended.

Within the safety of her home, Virginia states that San Francisco is beginning to have meaning for her. “The most important thing is to have a belief system. If you believe, you can hope… and if you have hope, then you can have a sense of try.”