Uplifting the Lives of Survivors through Access to Cannabis

At PAX, we’re committed to supporting our communities and fostering forward progress. We help drive positive change through PEACE BY PAX, our impact platform dedicated to causes of social reform, safe access and sustainability. One of our longtime partners in this mission is This is Jane Project, an incredible non-profit organization that sheds light, provides community, and uplifts the lives of women and non-binary trauma survivors. 

Recently, Laura Fogelman, our VP of Communications & Public Affairs, sat down with Shannon DeGrooms, Executive Director of This is Jane Project, to discuss their inspiring work, the impact they've made, and how our partnership has helped to support their critical mission.

First of all, thank you so much for the incredible work you’re doing. We are so proud to be able to collaborate and call you a partner. Tell us a bit about This is Jane Project and the mission you’re on?

The honor is ours. Truly. PAX’s steadfast support of TIJP sets a needed example of what true social impact and CSR work can look like in this industry.

This is Jane Project (TIJP) started in 2019 as a black-and-white photo activism campaign aimed at destigmatizing the use of this plant in confronting, managing, and healing from trauma—especially for women and non-binary people. We saw stories of veterans and those managing epilepsy represented in the media, yet little about how, for instance, an SA or DV survivor could benefit, or how it could support those doing generational trauma work, or how cannabis was a respite for those on their death and dying journey. So, after documenting nearly 100 “Janes” in 3 major cities, it became clear that TIJP needed to be more than media. 

Janes needed access-points to survivor-centered, trauma-sensitive medicines and modalities. In every story we transcribed, that was painfully clear. 

So, in 2020, we restructured into a nonprofit organization that offers no-cost virtual and in-person community events like our monthly Healing Happy Hour and quarterly HEARTs Healing Arts gatherings. However, it’s our Survivors Without Access program we’re most known for! Through discounted physicians recommendations provided by our partner, Leafwell, and low-to-no cost cannabis donations made by brands like PAX, Sonoma Hills Farm, Ember Valley, and many more, the SWA program has helped hundreds get medical cards and facilitated the donation of thousands of units of compliant cannabis to Janes in Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, and now, Lambertville, NJ!

I can’t convey enough the impact this program is having on the lives of Janes. Thanks to the early work of Jennifer Axcell, who developed TIJP’s adult-use model, and the inimitable Nicole Redler, of ReCompass, who spearheaded the SB-34 compliance and community activations for TIJP here in California, the SWA program is truly changing lives. A Jane in New Jersey recently sent an email saying that she thought she’d have to decide between paying the utilities or buying her medicine that month! Thanks to SWA, she didn’t have to choose.

“Trauma” is a word we see a lot these days, but give us a sense of its impact on the lives of Janes and how you think about healing?

It’s interesting how cultural lexicon changes over time. In 2019, “trauma” wasn’t as much of a buzzword. At TIJP, we recognize the impact of both ‘Big T’ and ‘little t’ traumas. We serve Janes facing acute, life-altering circumstances, to those navigating postpartum depression, chronic anxiety, or grief. As far as a definition goes, the one given by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk resonates with me personally. 

“Trauma is not the story of something that happened… 

It's the current imprint of that pain, horror, and fear living inside people.”