Emma Ledington was already on her way to a career in nursing when she first learned about the employment services available at her local Kentucky Career Center JobSight in Knox County.

Jacob Howard is no stranger to the commercial trucking industry. His family has been in it since he can remember, so it was a natural move for him when he decided to go for his commercial driver’s license (CDL) and begin working, too.

Like many at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Shasta Slone wasn’t just facing the uncertainty of a global health crisis, but the prospect of unemployment, as well.

Nicholas Goodpaster has lived in Morgan County his entire life and doesn't plan on leaving, so while looking for a new job in 2022 he turned to the Gateway Kentucky Career Center in West Liberty for assistance in finding work close to home. 

Jonathan Helton knew that training to become a lineman wouldn’t be easy, but he was ready to learn a trade that could lead to a full-time career.  

Jesse Pennington was a licensed electrician in Elliott County when the COVID-19 pandemic put a hold on most everything, including his job. It was 2020, and with pandemic protocols in place, Pennington wasn’t able to earn a living in the profession he expected to build a career from.

With a lot of work behind her and more still left to do, Hope Hatfield is turning things around. 

Caitlin Crockett wasn’t initially planning for a career in nursing, but sometimes things have a way of working out. 

It’s early afternoon and rain is falling in Pineville as Tessa Caldwell enters the Bell-Whitley Kentucky Career Center. She is not far removed from an all-night shift at her job, but her smile widens as she starts to talk about the work she is doing.

The rain sounded like water falling from buckets onto the metal roof of Joan Reed’s house. It was 12:30 a.m. on July 28, 2022, and the downpour had continued nonstop since the day before.  

Like many in the wake of the July 2022 flood in Eastern Kentucky, Emily McIntosh wanted to help. Her hometown of Whitesburg and many surrounding communities were devastated, and a lot of people were left in need.  

It’s a cold October morning, and Beth Gibson is spending part of it shoveling pieces of shattered drywall into a wheelbarrow at the Carrie Community Center in her native Knott County. She’s been doing this sort of work a lot as part of an effort to restore the center and other structures that just three months earlier sustained severe damage during one of the worst flooding events in Eastern Kentucky’s history.

Amelia Hoskins had a lot of work experience in 2020—mostly in the fast-food industry—when she decided it was time for a change, specifically to something she could do from home.  

Wesley Steele has a job with a view. “It’s awesome,” Steele says, his cell signal momentarily going in and out. He’s on the other end of a telephone conversation while on the way to a job in Knott County. “I love it.”

Kimberly Begley had spent nearly a decade working in Harlan County’s tourism industry. It was a job that she enjoyed, but by the spring of 2021 she was ready for a change.

In the fall of 2021 Nathaniel Smith was looking to leverage his training in software development into steady employment, and he hoped to begin his career without having to leave his native Pike County. He knew it wasn’t going to be an easy search at first, but thanks to a new internship program called One Up, he was able to accomplish both of his goals.

Darrell Estep was 20 years old, had recently completed rehab, and ready for a new start with a new job.

Less than a year after Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program (EKCEP) began its One Up internship program for college students or recent graduates, employers in the region are gaining new workers and interns are transitioning to full-time employment.

Tanner Waugh was at a bit of a crossroads. It was June 2021 and he was homeless and struggling to find a new job.