Recovery Month 2020: HOPE Spotlight

Meet Jennifer Storm, a woman in long-term recovery.

At age 12, Jennifer Storm was raped after drinking beer and passing out. Alcohol and drugs then became Storm’s escape route from feelings of fear, shame and anger over the assault. She got sober at age 22, but recovery from sexual violence would be a longer haul.

Storm’s best-selling memoir, Blackout Girl: Tracing My Scars from Addiction and Sexual Assault, serves as a survivor’s guide to healing from addiction and trauma.

“Shame was the shackle that kept me in the hole of addiction. That kept me in my darkest of places. But a young person came into a recovery setting that I was in, and she told my story. And I got hope from her. You can’t just listen to a Ted Talk or listen to a podcast and then, poof, you’re cured! But, if you can find someone that can give you the inspiration and show you what can be…[recovery] is possible for every single human being out there. It takes work. And it takes support. And I just want to let them know that there is hope.”