THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 2, 1995 TAG: 9502020389
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Marc Tibbs
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
Come Saturday, journalists from all over Virginia will see who among them will be recognized by their peers for exemplary work.
Awards bestowed in Richmond by the Virginia Press Association, and locally by the Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals will honor the state's best journalists.
Not one of the winners will have a thing over Dorita Epps.
Epps isn't a journalist, but her work probably has more impact than any journalist could ever dream.
She isn't a writer. She's a high school dropout, a former welfare recipient and a public housing resident who does more in her spare time than most journalists do in a lifetime.
Epps will receive the Community Service Award from the Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals. She is being recognized for her work in Swanson Homes, a public housing complex in Portsmouth.
Unlike her counterparts in journalism, Epps has never published a gripping story, even though she is writing incredible chapters in history every day.
And all she does is care about her community.
``Miss Sister Epps'' is how the children in Swanson Homes refer to her. It is there that her work is most appreciated. She started a tutoring program at the community center that often winds up on her living-room floor.
She has sponsored field trips and ``positive'' movies that many children wouldn't get the chance to experience.
She has recruited high school dropouts to enter the Camp Pendleton project, where they're enrolled in boot camp for eight weeks and emerge with a GED and some self-esteem.
Epps doesn't get paid for her efforts. In fact, she works the graveyard shift at the Southeastern Virginia Training Center. Instead of sleeping, she spends her days helping disadvantaged children.
``I guess I could be going to school to better my skills,'' she said, ``but I'm satisfied where I am - working with the children in the neighborhood.''
A Portsmouth native, Epps moved to Swanson Homes five years ago and encountered a lifestyle she wasn't willing to turn her head to.
A 7-year-old boy was being used by drug dealers to ferry cocaine and cash from customers, she recalled. That way, the drug dealers never got caught with the goods, and the 7-year-old would hardly be prosecuted.
``I prayed and asked the Lord what I should do about it,'' she said. She has been involved ever since.
Epps has seen the underside of life from a perspective journalists rarely see - she's lived it.
One of eight children, she grew up in Portsmouth's Truxton neighborhood and never met her father until she was 25 years old.
``My mother did the best that she could, but I just never felt like anybody cared. I came up on the rough side of the mountain. Life was real hard.''
Eventually, Epps was sent to a Northern Virginia home for girls.
``I loved it there,'' she said. ``I got three meals a day. I had my own room. I didn't want to go back.''
When she did return to Portsmouth, she ran away from home, slept in abandoned cars or condemned houses, and ``was out there smoking and drinking just like the rest of them.''
By the time she moved to Swanson Homes and saw that 7-year-old drug courier, her life had changed completely. She dedicated herself to helping other children avoid the pitfalls she had once succumbed to.
Last year, Epps received the Jefferson Award for volunteerism and was one of five national honorees in Washington.
``I don't do things for money or recognition,'' she said, ``but the awards just give me a deeper determination. It lets me know that volunteer work is worthwhile.''
Epps isn't likely to win a Pulitzer Prize, and chances are she won't be writing the Great American Novel, but when the media stars gather in their firmament Saturday night, her glow will shine brightest. by CNB