Some of the early chapters in Victoria Teague’s life were not fairy tale themed. It began with losing her sister (age 11) to cancer.
“It ricocheted a very dark season for me,” Teague said. “I got into drinking and drugs, and the wrong crowd.”
She acknowledged that among the group was a teacher that hung out on the football field.
“He buddied up with two of the football players, and they invited me and another girl to a party. They got us drunk, drugged us and raped us. … It became public,” Teague said. “Now I realize he was a predator looking for victims.”
The following year, her grandfather died and to numb the pain she used more drugs.
The spiraling teen became involved with the wrong guy who “became a pimp-like boyfriend that trafficked me for four years in metro Atlanta,” she stated.
It was through a cleaning opportunity that her life turned the corner .
Rescued by the woman that gave her the job, Teague was given “unconditional love and support.” She went on to attain her bachelor’s degree, worked as a corporate sales consultant and married a “southern gentleman.”
Ten years into her marriage, she felt led to help those where she once was.
In 2000, Teague founded Victoria’s Friends. Their mission is to “individually serve women who are lost and trapped in the helplessness of working in sexually-oriented businesses. As one of only a handful of survivor-led sexual exit organizations in the country, we seek to reach, restore and equip women in order to help them live healthy, flourishing lives,” according to https://www.victorias-friends.org/
“In 2021 we helped 52 candidates, 470 post traumatic stress disorder, grief and recovery therapy sessions, and gave out 15 scholarships ($2,500),” stated the founder.
While the mission states women, Victoria’s Friends serves people of all backgrounds, including men.
The nonprofit’s hotline provides resources and the team of 15 outreach workers goes out once a month to hand out gift baskets/bags of “love.”
“We go all over – into the backs of clubs, on Ponce de Leon, across from the Capitol, into crisis pregnancy centers, nursing homes and local hospitals,” Teague said.
Victoria’s Friends offers scholarships – cars, counseling, child care, job training, rent - that the founder says “are critical for the ladies.”
The organization also offers emergency assistance financial aid for people who are homeless and have absolutely no options.
She is currently working on adding animal-assisted therapy.
“This makes me realize we need to be grateful each and every day for our lives. The ladies are my heroes with everything they have gone through and to be able to pull their lives together and do so well is a miracle,” Teague noted.
For more information including the upcoming webinar “The Healing Tree” and events, visit: https://www.facebook.com/victoriasfriends
Each Sunday we write about a deserving person or charity events such as fun-runs, volunteer projects and other community gatherings that benefit a good cause. To submit a story for us to cover, send to ajc.doinggood@gmail.com.
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