Meet Jae Lange: ‘So proud to be fighting alongside my team and my community, fighting to end homelessness’
Jae Lange says they were a social worker long before a job or degree made it official.
“I was born one, and I will die one,” says Jae, a first-generation student in the B.S.W. Program who also is a direct service specialist for a grant-funded project administered by the School of Social Work.
Marsha and Marian’s Neighbors, a shared-housing program in Richmond, is for young adults ages 18-24 who are pregnant, parenting and/or identify as LGBTQ+ and are experiencing homelessness. The work is deeply personal for Jae, who experienced homelessness and unstable housing from ages 19 to 22.
Their work was recognized by the Virginia Housing Alliance, which in 2024 named Jae an Emerging Leader in its annual awards.
The award “definitely reminded me that all of my hard work over the years – while overcoming my own instability – did not go unnoticed,” Jae says. “And it is because of my people that I am able to push through. Being in the work, boots on the ground, can be extremely triggering. When I can’t hold on anymore, my community holds me up. I am so proud to be fighting alongside my team and my community, fighting to end homelessness.”
» See the full story at VCU News.
Categories Community, Education, Students