Three and a half years ago, Jessica Vantrease was living in a shed with no running water and in active addiction. Her decision to seek treatment at Lake Cumberland Recovery in Pulaski County changed the trajectory of her life. Today, she works at the center helping others begin their recovery journeys, and with support from EKCEP’s SITE program, she has strengthened and advanced her emerging career in the field.
“I came to Lake Cumberland Recovery to get clean,” Jessica said. “I finished the program, started working here as residential staff and peer support, and eventually I was promoted to intake director.”
In her current role, Jessica is often the first point of contact for individuals and families seeking treatment. She coordinates with courts, probation officers, and case managers, supports clients through the admissions process, and leads peer support groups. As her responsibilities grew, so did the need for additional credentials and professional training.
That’s when Jessica connected with Jeremy Lewis, a support specialist with EKCEP’s SITE program, a part of the agency’s Recovery & Reentry Division. Together, they completed a career assessment and discussed career path options based on her results.
With support from SITE, Jessica earned her Certified Substance Abuse (CSA) credential. EKCEP covered the cost of the training, removing a financial barrier and allowing her to move forward with the certification.
Earning her CSA not only strengthened her skills, but also positioned her as a leader within her organization.
“For a while, it was just me and one other person here who had the CSA,” she said. “It helped us get the ball rolling on changes we’re making and better ways to serve clients.”
In addition to supporting her certification, EKCEP helped Jessica sharpen the day-to-day professional skills that strengthen her work with clients and community partners through a customer service training course.
“I went into the class thinking it would just be basic customer service,” she said. “But I learned so much that I use every day—email communication, professional boundaries, and how to interact with clients, families, and the courts.”
Beyond the credentials, Jessica says Lewis’s ongoing encouragement and accountability made a lasting difference.
“A lot of times we know what we want to do, but we don’t know how to get there,” she said. “He helped guide me through the whole process, checking in on me, answering questions, and keeping me motivated.”
The experience also helped Jessica rebuild habits of structure and discipline, which prepared her to take an even bigger step forward: returning to college. She now has just over a year remaining to complete her bachelor’s degree in human services and counseling and plans to pursue a master’s degree. Her long-term goal is to become a clinical director.
“I had such a positive experience with recovery and with the people who believed in me when I couldn’t believe in myself,” Jessica said. “I wanted to give that back to someone else.”
Today, she does exactly that, helping individuals enter treatment, supporting them through crisis, and using her lived experience, training, and education to guide others toward stability.
“I would absolutely recommend the SITE program,” she said. “When you work in treatment, you don’t do it for the money. Having financial help to get certifications and training is vital. A lot of people, myself included, wouldn’t have been able to move forward without it.”
EKCEP, a nonprofit workforce development agency headquartered in Hazard, Ky., serves the citizens of 23 Appalachian coalfield counties. EKCEP is funded by the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, along with various federal and state grants and private donations, and is a proud partner in the American Job Center network. Learn more at ekcep.org.
The Strategic Initiative for Transformational Employment (SITE) is funded in part by the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort (KORE) through a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the Kentucky Office for Drug Control Policy.