Gina Heslop
Ginny Burton lived a difficult and incredible life. The story began when Eric Johnson from Local12 met Ginny for the first time. He was searching for homeless people with unique stories, in many countries in the United States. Eric showed that he wanted to talk to someone and learn more about this situation. He spoke to a woman in the Catholic church, whom he later discovered was Ginny Burton. She told him the story of her life and Eric was very touched.
She was born into a family where her mother was addicted to drugs and had mental problems. While her father was in prison. She had a difficult childhood and started using drugs at the age of 6. For the first time she tried marijuana, and at the age of 14 she started smoking. Something terrible happened to her at the age of 16, after she was raped and a year later she tried to commit suicide.
She got married and had an abusive marriage. She did not break away from drugs even after giving birth to children. At the age of 23, she became addicted to heroin. Eric was surprised to meet Ginny. She was convicted 17 times for various crimes. “I used to sit on the street and look at people like prey. I was trying to find a drug because I couldn’t live without it.”
“My life was very difficult, as I was addicted to drugs. I didn’t want to live this way and I often thought of committing suicide.”
She was arrested for the last time in 2012, after being inside a stolen truck. Ginny never lost hope and went to rehab. Finally, she managed to overcome her addiction. She began working in social service for the Post-Prison Education Program for seven years.
Ginny then applied to the University of Washington and won a scholarship. She studied political science at the age of 47 and finished her studies with excellent results. She is proud of herself for being able to save herself from the difficult life she had started.
