Local Learn and Lead: How addiction impacts an entire community from employers to families

October 27 from 12 – 1 p.m. at the Kokomo Thriving Center, Indiana Wesleyan University

Local Lunch & Lead: How addictions impacts an entire community from employers to families, partner event with the Greater Kokomo Chamber of Commerce

Cost: Free to attend

Speaker bio: Jennifer Hope was born in Wabash and has lived in Fort Wayne for the past 25 years.  She graduated from Ball State University with a degree in journalism, joined the workforce for a handful of years, took some time off to be a full-time mom and then started a small graphic design business in 2005.  She and her husband Ian have three kiddos and one granddaughter.  If you’d like a feel-good detail, she has a soft spot in her heart for black labs.

After experiencing how substance use disorder affects the entire family first through her father’s life-long battle with alcohol and then her son’s seven-year struggle with both drugs and alcohol, her mission has become letting families know they are not alone.  Her son’s addiction and recovery were the catalyst to learning about the disease and founding The Mom of an Addict, Inc., a nonprofit that provides education and support to families who have been affected by a loved-one’s substance use disorder.  She is determined to speak out to help end the stigma associated with mental health and substance use disorders.  In 2020, the organization started the annual September Recovery Rocks in Fort Wayne to coincide with Recovery Month. Jennifer is a Certified Addiction Recovery Coach, but the most important letters behind her name are MOM.

When not running a support group meeting or being an advocate in the community, Jennifer enjoys cooking, spending time with family/friends, playing with her granddaughter, hosting holiday meals, sitting on the beach and riding roller coasters.