Perry Countian Gabrielle Fugate Lands Job, Enters Career Path with Help from One Up Internship

Gabrielle Fugate is just taking the first steps on her career path, but thanks to her decision to apply for a new internship program offered to Eastern Kentucky college students or recent graduates, her path to a successful career is now a clear one.

Fugate had just graduated from Perry County Central High School when she first heard about the new One Up internship program. It was an opportunity she jumped at to learn more, and it has since developed into a full-time job with Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) in Hazard.

Gabrielle Fugate transitioned her One Up internship into a full-time position at ARH in Hazard.

“A friend of mine actually recommended the One Up program, being that he also started working for Appalachian Regional Healthcare through a similar program,” Fugate said. “Once I found out this opportunity was available, I researched to learn more and thought this would be a great chance to start my career.”

One Up is a new paid internship program available to college students and recent college graduates within the 23-county service area of Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program (EKCEP). One Up provides real world learning opportunities on the jobsite that could transition to full-time employment. The program considers participants’ career interests and actively works to pair them with host employers in their career field of choice. For Fugate, that field was healthcare administration.

Fugate is currently enrolled at Hazard Community and Technical College while also working for ARH as a result of her acceptance into One Up. She eventually plans to transfer to Morehead State University to earn a degree in business administration. She said she first formed an interest in healthcare during a co-op opportunity presented by ARH while she was still in high school. That opportunity allowed her to work part-time as a vaccine assistant, registering patients as they arrived to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine.

“As a student employee, I developed a great relationship with various team members,” Fugate said. “I heard success stories from previous interns who worked at ARH, and this made me envision the same success for myself.”

By June 2021, Fugate had applied for a One Up position via EKCEP’s website, which quickly led to her being paired with an internship opportunity at ARH. She said being paired with ARH was what she wanted based on her interest in the field and previous experience with the company.

“I wanted to stay here with ARH. I’ve always known that I wanted to go into business,” she said. “I wasn’t really sure it was healthcare or not, but after working here this is what I want to do.”

Fugate began her internship at ARH’s systems center in Hazard, working with the human resources department. And because ARH was a participating One Up internship host, Fugate gained valuable, onsite experience and was also paid for her time, something she said that made it even more beneficial.

“It’s not only a great opportunity, but for me, someone who doesn’t know what they’re going to do in life, this really showed me what I’m interested in, what I wanted my career to be, and I got to get that experience and get paid for it,” she said. “That was really phenomenal.”

Fast forward to September and Fugate’s internship had ended, but thanks to an offer from ARH she was able to transition into a full-time job as a corporate human resources assistant, a position that has expanded on her prior duties as an intern. In her new position, Fugate is responsible for scheduling interviews and helping coordinate events, among others. It’s a busy time, she added. 

It’s also a job she said she couldn’t have landed if not for her decision to apply for a One Up internship. And it’s an opportunity she would recommend to anyone else who may find themselves in a similar position of looking for a possible career path.

To learn more about One Up, or to apply for an internship, visit www.ekcep.org/one-up.

EKCEP, a nonprofit workforce development agency headquartered in Hazard, Ky., serves the citizens of 23 Appalachian coalfield counties. The agency provides an array of workforce development services and operates the Kentucky Career Center JobSight network of workforce centers, which provide access to more than a dozen state and federal programs that offer employment and training assistance for jobseekers and employers all under one roof. Learn more about us at http://www.ekcep.org, http://www.jobsight.org and http://www.facebook.com/ekcep.

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