This Great American Warrior article is brought to you by our partner, philanthropist, and LEO supporter Trudy Jacobson.
MEMPHIS, TN - Jessica Owen is no stranger to drug addiction. She battled those demons for a long time which eventually led her to being homeless. Many women never overcome those hurdles and unfortunately often end up dead or in jail.
But not Jessica.
She managed to dig her way out of the darkness and forced herself into drug rehabilitation, NA, or Narcotics Anonymous. But Jessica and her husband, who fought his own addiction demons, saw it all and lost it all – eventually leading them to start a nonprofit.
“We lost two houses, four cars, five businesses - like we lost it all, everything. We were homeless living in a crack house. You see a lot of prostitution, trafficking, drug dealers, kids getting abused,” Jessica told LET. “There are so many monsters that are present in the world of addiction, that's why we call our nonprofit ‘We Fight Monsters.’”
Before they started We Fight Monsters, they created Flanders Fields, a nonprofit organization to help veterans. Jessica and Flanders Fields focused on helping veterans avoid prison time. She partnered up with the local court system as an early intervention-style system to help veterans seek counseling, drug rehab, and employment instead of being sentenced to prison.
In fact, her system was so effective that she expanded to another nonprofit to help all people battling addiction and avoid prison time – with the help of halfway houses.
“We bought three halfway houses. They are recovery residences in Memphis. We work with Shelby County drug court, we work with veterans’ court and mental health court,” she said.
The halfway houses are designed to house addicts while still giving them the freedom to find employment, get clean, and rebuild themselves personally and professionally.
Even more impressive, Jessica turned several Memphis crack houses that she used to frequent into halfway houses as a sign of hope that “things can always change for the better.”
Why Halfway Houses
The decision for Jessica to pursue opening halfway houses wasn’t out of nowhere. She and her husband Ben, an Army veteran himself, already had experience running safe houses – in Afghanistan!
Two days before the disastrous withdrawal Ben was asked by a friend, a Marine intelligence officer to help map out safe ground routes in Afghanistan.
Jessica and Ben both knew a lot of friendly allies in Afghanistan who were concerned about what may happen if Americans left the country. That’s where the safe house idea came from.
“So we found a guy [in Afghanistan] to help and we started leasing apartments,” Jessica said.
It wasn’t long before Jessica started to receive messages from Afghans looking for a safe place.
“We were being bombarded with messages like, ‘They're going to kill my family, they're going to rape my daughter, please help us. You all promised you would help us if we helped you and you left us behind,’ so we felt the need to help these people,” she said.
Jessica and Ben managed to help countless families escape the horrors of being under the Taliban regime, especially since many of the Afghans were known for helping Americans.
She added, “One guy was an Afghan commando, and his daughter reached out to us in 2021 and she was like, ‘Look, we're seven people, we're stuck in this tiny room. They're going to kill my father. He worked with Navy SEALS and Rangers and they're going to kill all of us if you can't find us someplace to go.’”
Jessica was able to get the family help especially the daughter who lives with Jessica to this day, pursuing her dream of continuing her education.
Helping People
It is in Jessica’s nature to help other people. As a former drug addict, she understands the dark underworld that many people live in and the various demons they fight.
She has dedicated her life to helping people but admits it’s often difficult to manage the intense emotions from her line of work.
“It is a lot and it hurts. We've been heartbroken a lot. We've had overdoses and I think how we deal with that is we just keep pouring into other people and that's really all we can do. We do take one or two days just to kind of grieve that person especially after we've had to bury them, which, with the prevalence of fentanyl, has been happening a lot more often lately,” she said.
But nothing will stop her. She recently added another element to their community service called Gangland. With this new program, they can help ex-cons and even gang leaders learn skills and trades to become more employable.
With their history of success and determination, we are confident they will help more people – and will never stop.
Check out this recent news coverage of We Fight Monsters. For more information visit their website https://wefightmonsters.org/
You can also follow them on Facebook, their YouTube channel, and LinkedIn.
A Message from our partner, LEO advocate, and philanthropist Trudy Jacobson
“Jessica is using her prior experience as an addict to help shape the future of troubled people. It is both honorable and commendable to watch her accomplish so much after what she went through, and it is exactly what makes her a Great American Warrior.”
-------------------
Writer Eddie Molina is a veteran and has over 25 years of combined LEO/military service. He owns and operates the LEO apparel and accessory company www.BuyHeroStuff.com
MEMPHIS, TN - Jessica Owen is no stranger to drug addiction. She battled those demons for a long time which eventually led her to being homeless. Many women never overcome those hurdles and unfortunately often end up dead or in jail.
But not Jessica.
She managed to dig her way out of the darkness and forced herself into drug rehabilitation, NA, or Narcotics Anonymous. But Jessica and her husband, who fought his own addiction demons, saw it all and lost it all – eventually leading them to start a nonprofit.
“We lost two houses, four cars, five businesses - like we lost it all, everything. We were homeless living in a crack house. You see a lot of prostitution, trafficking, drug dealers, kids getting abused,” Jessica told LET. “There are so many monsters that are present in the world of addiction, that's why we call our nonprofit ‘We Fight Monsters.’”
Before they started We Fight Monsters, they created Flanders Fields, a nonprofit organization to help veterans. Jessica and Flanders Fields focused on helping veterans avoid prison time. She partnered up with the local court system as an early intervention-style system to help veterans seek counseling, drug rehab, and employment instead of being sentenced to prison.
In fact, her system was so effective that she expanded to another nonprofit to help all people battling addiction and avoid prison time – with the help of halfway houses.
“We bought three halfway houses. They are recovery residences in Memphis. We work with Shelby County drug court, we work with veterans’ court and mental health court,” she said.
The halfway houses are designed to house addicts while still giving them the freedom to find employment, get clean, and rebuild themselves personally and professionally.
Even more impressive, Jessica turned several Memphis crack houses that she used to frequent into halfway houses as a sign of hope that “things can always change for the better.”
Why Halfway Houses
The decision for Jessica to pursue opening halfway houses wasn’t out of nowhere. She and her husband Ben, an Army veteran himself, already had experience running safe houses – in Afghanistan!
Two days before the disastrous withdrawal Ben was asked by a friend, a Marine intelligence officer to help map out safe ground routes in Afghanistan.
Jessica and Ben both knew a lot of friendly allies in Afghanistan who were concerned about what may happen if Americans left the country. That’s where the safe house idea came from.
“So we found a guy [in Afghanistan] to help and we started leasing apartments,” Jessica said.
It wasn’t long before Jessica started to receive messages from Afghans looking for a safe place.
“We were being bombarded with messages like, ‘They're going to kill my family, they're going to rape my daughter, please help us. You all promised you would help us if we helped you and you left us behind,’ so we felt the need to help these people,” she said.
Jessica and Ben managed to help countless families escape the horrors of being under the Taliban regime, especially since many of the Afghans were known for helping Americans.
She added, “One guy was an Afghan commando, and his daughter reached out to us in 2021 and she was like, ‘Look, we're seven people, we're stuck in this tiny room. They're going to kill my father. He worked with Navy SEALS and Rangers and they're going to kill all of us if you can't find us someplace to go.’”
Jessica was able to get the family help especially the daughter who lives with Jessica to this day, pursuing her dream of continuing her education.
Helping People
It is in Jessica’s nature to help other people. As a former drug addict, she understands the dark underworld that many people live in and the various demons they fight.
She has dedicated her life to helping people but admits it’s often difficult to manage the intense emotions from her line of work.
“It is a lot and it hurts. We've been heartbroken a lot. We've had overdoses and I think how we deal with that is we just keep pouring into other people and that's really all we can do. We do take one or two days just to kind of grieve that person especially after we've had to bury them, which, with the prevalence of fentanyl, has been happening a lot more often lately,” she said.
But nothing will stop her. She recently added another element to their community service called Gangland. With this new program, they can help ex-cons and even gang leaders learn skills and trades to become more employable.
With their history of success and determination, we are confident they will help more people – and will never stop.
Check out this recent news coverage of We Fight Monsters. For more information visit their website https://wefightmonsters.org/
You can also follow them on Facebook, their YouTube channel, and LinkedIn.
A Message from our partner, LEO advocate, and philanthropist Trudy Jacobson
“Jessica is using her prior experience as an addict to help shape the future of troubled people. It is both honorable and commendable to watch her accomplish so much after what she went through, and it is exactly what makes her a Great American Warrior.”
-------------------
Writer Eddie Molina is a veteran and has over 25 years of combined LEO/military service. He owns and operates the LEO apparel and accessory company www.BuyHeroStuff.com
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The opinions reflected in this article are not necessarily the opinions of LET
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