mckaywallercamp2008

A passion to help and the need to heal led one outstanding volunteer to make great changes in her life and the life of many others.

Ginny Waller, 31, has a bachelor’s degree in English and master’s degree in English literature from Louisiana Tech University. She grew up in Shreveport, La., moved to Columbia eight years ago and graduated from the USC School of Law.

She became unhappy and unfulfilled working for a private law firm in downtown Columbia, practicing insurance defense litigation. She quit in January to find a job in the sexual assault advocacy field she was so passionate about.

It wasn't until May that a position at the Sexual Trauma Services of the Midlands (STSM) opened up.

"They called me Monday evening after they had had their board meeting and said 'Well, when do you want to start?'" she said.

"Tomorrow!" was her response. And she started the next day as the director of development.

Waller had been a volunteer with the agency since 2004 when she was looking for a career change.

A survivor of sexual abuse, Waller says she began volunteering at STSM for reasons she calls "selfish": She was looking for ways to aid her own healing process.

"My assault happened back in college and for the majority of my life I have denied that it is something that affected me in the least," she says. "So it was kind of a realization to myself that, yes, this is affecting my life. I can't hide it anymore and I needed to see what I could do to help myself."

She explains that traditional counseling was not what she was looking for and then decided that helping someone else really was helping herself.

Waller, who was married in October 2007, has a thick, hybrid Louisiana-South Carolina accent and she speaks with full of excitement for what she does.

"You're talking to someone who is completely and utterly obsessed with her job," she says with a laugh.

Eve Wilson, STSM's executive director, voices respect and admiration for Waller. She says that this kind of work inspires people differently and people come to the agency for different reasons, to volunteer or become part of the staff.

"Ginny's just one of those who totally…" she says and break off searching for words with a smile on her face. "Her work with the agency has totally changed her life. She has totally changed careers because of her passion for working with and for survivors of sexual assault and abuse. Her leaving her legal career has definitely benefited us."

Waller was named Young Lawyer of the Year by the South Carolina Bar in May 2008 and is still active with the organization, serving as a leader in many different capacities.

She is the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division (ABA-YLD) District 10 representative and was recently appointed to the ABA-YLD Public Service Project Team on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

Her relationship with the agency began as a volunteer and she served in many different ways, she says.

She volunteered with the speaker's bureau where she went out into the community and spoke with different organizations about STSM and their services, soliciting donations, educating at schools and recruiting volunteers.

She was an office volunteer where she directed phone calls, assisted staff members and prepared materials for distribution.

And she was a volunteer advocate where she provided emotional support and information to survivors and answered hot-line calls.

As far as what Waller does now with the agency, it appears to be a little bit of everything.

"I wear a lot of different hats," she says. She helps organize much of the agency’s media relations. She and other staff members work closely with the Department of Mental Health and the Department of Social Services to publish pamphlets about STSM's services.

She is responsible for fund raising, helps with grant writing and aids in facilitating the annual campaign for individual donors. She is also responsible for event planning such as the agency’s 25th anniversary gala in October to celebrate the agency's 25 years of service to the community.

Waller has only been a full time staff member at the Sexual Trauma Services of the Midlands for a few months but she has happy to be able to work in the atmosphere she's in and with the people she works with now.

"It’s a wonderful environment," she says. She loves working with people who have a passion for what they do. She calls them inspirational.

"I know it sounds canned," Waller says. "But it's true. Now I can’t imagine doing anything without them."