Perry County Native Patti White Takes First Step on New Career Path with Help from eKART

Patti White had spent more than a decade working in the restaurant industry before the COVID-19 pandemic brought dining out to a sudden halt and left her drawing unemployment to help make ends meet. The Perry County native wasn’t necessarily looking for a career change when COVID hit, but thanks to help from eKART she not only has a new job, but also plans for a new career.

Patti White

White, who is also a single parent and recovering from substance use issues, was quickly running into a financial wall even as the pandemic continued.

“When COVID hit, the restaurant shut down,” White says. “I started receiving unemployment, and that was running out.”

White says her fortunes changed one day when Autumn Melton, a supervisor at the Sunrise Center in Hazard, mentioned a potential job opening at the center, which is operated by Kentucky River Community Care and assists individuals facing issues including homelessness.

Because of her own recovery, White was also eligible for services through eKART (Eastern Kentucky Addiction Recovery and Training), and had been working with Success Coach Tesa Turner since November 2019. When she heard about the opportunity at the Sunrise Center, she contacted Turner and expressed her interest in applying for the position through Go-Hire, a non-profit employment agency.

An initiative of Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program (EKCEP), Inc., eKART works with local drug courts and other agencies to bridge the gulf between recovery and productive participation in the workforce by providing individuals with valuable career, training, and supportive services, while actively cultivating transformational job opportunities. It aims to help recovering addicts get back on their feet with job trainings and placements.

In her role as success coach, Turner assisted White with obtaining the information she needed to apply through Go-Hire, and after submitting for a drug screen and other requirements, White heard back that she’d been hired and would be working PRN, or as needed, which meant she was employed but still not earning full-time pay some weeks.

While she was relieved to begin working and earning a wage again, White says she needed additional hours to help cover regular bills and costs of living. That’s when Turner asked about her interest in becoming a certified per support specialist, which could help her move to a full-time position.

Peer support specialists play an important role in the recovery community, and can work one-on-one or in a group setting with clients who have suffered issues with substance use, drawing on their own experiences to help set goals and offer support in clients’ recovery. White says she was very interested in that opportunity and immediately agreed to sign up for the training.

“I did [the training], and it probably wasn’t two weeks that Vicie, the main woman over the clinic, contacted me and asked me if I wanted to be full-time,” White says. “And now I’m full-time here.”

White began her peer support work for KRCC in early 2021, but also continues to work with the center on the phones, taking info for clients, and setting them up with therapists—whatever she can to help. She says her job has given her a better idea of what she wants to do with her career.

“I’m 40 years old and now I know what I want to do with my life,” White says. “I want to help people, because there were people there for me when I needed help.”  

Turner was one of those people, she adds, as eKART provided a gift card for White to be able to purchase new work clothes and a later a gas card to get back and forth to the center. A second was Autumn Melton, White’s supervisor at the center who first told her about the job opening.

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Tesa and Autumn,” she says.

White says it was important for her to have someone like Turner in her corner to provide access to eKART and those career resources to assist her as she worked to develop a new career path.

“It gives you hope,” she says, “that even though you might not get the job that you want at the time, you work your way up to it. You know you’ve got someone in your corner that’s going to help you, and you’re not doing it by yourself.”

Now working as a peer support specialist, White is using her own experience in recovery as a tool to help others who are starting that same journey. And she knows it’s a powerful tool, and one she hopes to continue to use well into her future career as she’s now working toward earning a bachelor’s degree that will enable her to progress in the human services field. And eKART will continue to support her in that journey with supportive services and other costs beyond financial aid, where possible.

“My ultimate goal is to definitely get a degree and be a bigger part of this company,” White says. “This place is just so amazing, and there’s so many resources we can help people with that they don’t even know about.”

To learn more about the services available through eKART, visit www.ekcep.org.

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.