Today we’d like to introduce you to Jen Spencer.
Hi Jen, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in Mountain Green, Utah, and was the third oldest of nine kids. I had seven brothers and one little sister. In middle school, I was socially awkward and bullied, leading me to develop issues with low self-esteem. I was dealing with a lot of depression and self-destructive behavior and dropped out of high school in my junior year.
When I was 18 years old, I tried drugs for the first time and was instantly addicted. For the next 20 years of my life, I was addicted to crystal meth and was homeless off and on for several years on the streets of Ogden. The last time I was homeless was in the winter of 2014, it was brutally cold and temps got down to single digits. I remember being so cold I couldn’t even think and small tasks like finding a bathroom felt like overwhelming obstacles. The cold in combination with my addiction and the hopelessness I felt took my will to live so fast. I had money and lots of resources like a truck and a storage unit but being homeless in the cold broke me even with all that I had.
I reached a point where I could not go on living the way that I was living and reached out to a friend and found out that she passed away earlier that morning from breast cancer. I was devastated. My friend was one of my greatest heroes. She always tried to help me and never judged me for my addiction. She helped so many others who were struggling too and her death was the tipping point for me. I realized I could not go on living the way I was living. In a moment of hopeless defeat, I turned to God for help.
I poured my heart out to Him and begged Him to give me the desire to change because I realized that for me to stop doing drugs I had to want to change more than wanting to get high. Through that experience, I developed an amazing relationship with God. Three months later, I was in rehab, and through faith and determination, I have been clean ever since. I just celebrated 8 years of sobriety. Addiction touches the lives of almost everyone these days so I share my recovery story every chance I get because I never know who is going to hear it that needs to feel some hope that recovery from addiction and happiness is possible.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Getting clean and sober has been a challenge for me. Every single day is a battle but it is a battle that is worth fighting. Since I have gotten clean, I have personally known 28 people I have been in recovery with a died from the disease of addiction. Also 2 of my siblings. My little sister died from a heroin overdose 3 days after I got out of rehab and my youngest brother took his own life 3 years later because he could not overcome his addiction.
These have been devastating blows for my family and me personally because I wanted so badly for my siblings to join me in recovery. Their deaths have made my desire to push forward and stay clean even stronger. I feel like it is so important to go to recovery meetings and share that losing my siblings has been the most painful thing I have ever experienced in my whole life but I am not going to use it as an excuse to get high.
I don’t need drugs to cope with my pain anymore and as long as I hold on to God I can get through any obstacle or challenge that comes my way because He is my super-power.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Three months after getting clean I went to an emergency preparedness conference and learned about an amazing type of clothing technology, invented by Jim Phillips, called foam clothing that keeps people warm in freezing temperatures even if they’re wet. The memory of the misery I felt being homeless during an extreme winter was still very fresh in my mind. I knew seven people in one year that froze to death, so I knew this unique technology was very valuable. Then I heard the price tag and it was so astronomical that only rich people could afford it. They buy it, take it home, put it on a shelf, and wait for their “emergency”, which may or may not ever come. This broke my heart because I thought of how homeless people are living in their emergency right now and so many feel no hope of ever getting out of it. I wanted to do something to change that. I became obsessed with learning how to make foam clothing for the homeless.
One day, I said a prayer and I asked God how he was doing today. I had never thought to pray that way before but I poured out my heart to him and told Him how heartbroken I was feeling for Him. I told Him I was sad that people were mean to Him and blame Him for their problems and the condition the world was in. I told Him I was sad that people were mean to each other and there was so much fighting going on. Told Him how much my heart was hurting that there is clothing technology that can save people’s lives but it is unobtainable for those that truly need it and I just wanted to know what I could do to help Him have a better day and to show Him how grateful I was that He rescued me when I did not deserve it.
About an hour later, I got an answer. These words came to my mind: “Jen I think it is super cute that you care about My heart but please remember who I am… I am the healer of all things that are broken and I specialize in hearts. The thing that is breaking my heart is not how people are treating me, it is the way that my children are treating each other. You have this idea to learn how to make foam clothing to give to the homeless and it is a good idea. I want you to run with it. I want you to go to the top of organizations that help homeless people and tell everyone who will listen that this life-saving technology exists. Tell them about your idea to make these for homeless people for free and engage the community to help. This idea is way bigger than you but it is not bigger than Me (God) so if you keep Me (God) as your boss and let Me be in charge I promise to send you every helping hand and every resource you need in otoe this a reality.”
So I did just that. I started telling everyone who would listen about my idea and it took about 2 years before I found enough people who believed in me and helped me get this project off the ground. It is interesting because I needed those two years to get clean and sober and emotionally healthy. I also spent $780 to buy one of the full head-to-toe foam suits so that I could test the technology for myself. I put on my suit one day it was about 10*F outside and I broke the ice on a stream in my neighborhood and laid down in it. It took about a min for the water to penetrate the suit but when it did I could not believe how cold it was. I got out of the water shivering so much it hurt but within 45 seconds my body warmed up and I was not cold at all. I could not believe it. I walked around for two hours, totally soaking wet but not cold. This is not something you can fake. I now had the most incredible testimony of foam clothing technology and knew without a doubt that this stuff works like a miracle.
In 2017, I founded the Turtle Shelter Project, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, to help people see that every life matters by creating a traveling service project where people can help us make foam-insulated vests called Turtle Shelters for our unsheltered friends to keep them alive and warm in the winter. The cost of the raw materials only costs $30 and that is with all donated labor.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Our project is unique because we are not only trying to save lives and alleviate the suffering of our unsheltered friends. We are also trying to give people an opportunity to serve in a meaningful way by helping us manufacture these vests. We travel to where we are invited and we bring all the supplies and materials and the host provides the space, tables, and helping hands for a specified period. We can tailor each event to meet the needs and skill levels of any age group. Our motto is “Every Life Has Value, Every Person Can Serve” We mean that. We have had kids as young as 3 years old and adults as old as 90 help us. Our project is a ton of fun because we have something everyone can do. It brings people together in a remarkable way and every moment put into this project has a direct impact on saving a precious human life that matters.
In the 6 years, we have been in business we have had over 529 service events and produced and distributed a little over 3000 vests in Utah, Colorado, and several other states. This year’s goal is 1500 vests and so far we have finished over 600. We can’t do what we do without the help of so many generous people who are willing to donate their time and their talents to help us reach our production goals. It takes about 3-4 hours to make each one. When we distribute these to the homeless we go directly to their camps and we teach each person how to wear it properly so that it will save their life.
We tell them that it must be worn under their clothes for maximum results. We let them pick the color they want and teach them how to roll it up into a pillow when it isn’t cold so that it is easy to carry around. We want each recipient to feel like this vest is a hug from God and their community so that they know they are loved and that their life is so important. We hope to branch out into other states and create a movement to get these produced across the country because we know that the need is growing faster than we can produce these but we know we will get there.
Word is spreading and the homeless love how much these vests real save their lives.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.turtleshelterproject.org
- Instagram: @turtleshelterproject
- Facebook: @turtleshelterproject
- Youtube: @turtleshelterproject7915
