Jenna's Promise

About Jenna's Promise

Jenna's Promise is a recovery housing provider in Johnson, Vermont, running certified recovery housing and workforce programs in Lamoille County. A family founded it after losing their daughter Jenna to addiction, and it now operates recovery homes, transitional apartments, a financial assistance program, two social enterprises and a community and recovery center housed in the church that was the family's place of worship.

A Lamoille County Recovery Housing Provider Built as a Village

The organization's model is a recovery village concentrated in one small Vermont town. Housing, employment, community space and support services sit within walking distance of each other, which addresses the standard failure point in rural recovery: a person gets one of those four and loses the rest to distance. A resident here can live, work, attend a meeting and see a coach without a car and without leaving Johnson.

Phased Recovery Homes and Transitional Apartments

The housing runs in stages. Rae of Hope is a structured sober home for women with a live-in house manager and program manager providing service coordination and case management. Residents who complete the phase requirements can move to Beacon of Light, a second recovery home that grants more responsibility, and from there to transitional apartments called Bright Horizons that act as a springboard back into the community. Each step adds independence while keeping access to the organization's supports.

Work and Wages Alongside the Housing

Two social enterprises, a coffee roasting company and a discount goods store, were created to employ people in recovery and build work experience, and their profits support the organization. A workforce development and education program guides members through professional skills, educational goals, financial literacy, resumes and a career path. Housing plus a paycheck plus a reference is a materially different offer from housing alone.

Certification and Trauma-Informed Recovery Housing

The organization's housing is certified by the Vermont Alliance for Recovery Residences, and Rae of Hope was the first residence in Vermont certified at the level it holds. The approach is trauma-informed and combines mental health and substance use treatment, education and vocation, and community connection. The organization's recovery center partners with the North Central Vermont Recovery Center to deliver recovery coaching, health and wellness programs, twelve-step meetings and child care.

Serving Women in Recovery in Northern Vermont

Johnson is a small town in Lamoille County with a Vermont State University campus, and the organization draws women from across northern Vermont, including women leaving incarceration. Its model has been influential enough that a Northeast Kingdom operator explicitly built a men's program on it.