Nine former Miss Americas visited Enlightened Cafe in Ventnor to support those in addiction recovery.
VENTNOR – Miss America is all about “helping people and changing communities,” said Enlightened Solutions CEO Jennifer Hansen, who welcomed nine former Miss Americas to her Enlightened Cafe restaurant and recovery support center in Ventnor Thursday, Sept. 6.
In town for the Miss America Scholarship Competition, the former Misses were looking for ways to learn more about the community it has called home for more than 90 years.
“My friend Barbara Gomes suggested they come to Enlightened Café,” Hansen’s mother, Edwina Hansen said. “She’s a big fan of what Jen has done.”
A former addict in recovery for more than 20 years, Jennifer Hansen has become a force in the addiction recovery scene. In just a few short years since forming the Hansen Foundation and Enlightened Solutions, she has opened nine Serenity Houses, a detox center and Enlightened Café, which employs former addicts in recovery, providing them with jobs and self-worth. She has convinced state legislators to introduce a bill requiring the Department of Health to create a credentialing agency to develop and administer a recovery residence certification program.
“When I was in recovery, I realized there’s nothing here in New Jersey for people in recovery,” Hansen said. “So, my sponsor said if there’s nothing here, then you have to bring it.”
Hansen said she took a holistic approach to recovery services, including offering yoga, chiropractic treatment, Reiki and teaching people in recovery to eat well.
“Sometimes people take better care of their cars than what they put into their bodies,” Hansen said. “I also wanted to give them jobs and help them learn what it’s like to run a business. Many restaurants serve alcohol and that can be a hard place for them to work after recovery.”
The women heard testimony from restaurant employee, Sam, who was rejected by several treatment centers before someone told her about Hansen’s program.
“She took a shot on me and gave me a scholarship to get treatment,” she said.
Sam’s first job was shoveling manure at a horse farm.
“I was just so grateful to be sober,” she said.
Sam has been waiting tables at Enlightened Café for more than a year, serving organic, locally grown foods and smoothies.
“This isn’t just a restaurant,” Sam said. “We’re a family.”
Marisol Colon of Ventnor, who celebrated her 15th month of sobriety on Thursday, said she was grateful that the Miss Americas offered their support.
“They are an inspiration to us, especially in the time of #metoo. They are here representing all the women of the United States, but mostly they are here to support us, and we need all the support we can get,” she said.
Their presence at the café goes a long way to alleviating the stigma that goes along with addiction, Colon said.
“For them to be here to greet us is amazing,” Colon said.
Former Miss Americas Maria Fletcher, Heather French, Katie Stam, Lee Meriwether, BeBe Shopp, Vonda Ven Dyke, Judi Ford, Susan Powell and Nina Davuluri enjoyed lunch before boarding a mini-bus back to Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall where they would attend preliminary competitions.
But before they did, Miss America 2000 Heather French took the mic to say addiction knows no boundaries. Her father, a Vietnam veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, fought his own demons of addiction.
“We have all been touched by addiction,” she said.
