SITE Helps Breathitt Countian Michelle Howard with Fresh Start in New Career

Michelle Howard was in recovery in the spring of 2020, working her way through Drug Court in Breathitt County. Her addiction had taken a lot from her by then, including a teaching career, but she was ready to build back her life.  

Michelle Howard utilized services through SITE to help her prepare for a new career in the recovery field. (photo provided)

It was then that Howard also first met Tesa Turner, the project manager for an employment program designed to help individuals in recovery succeed in the workforce. It was called Strategic Initiative for Transformational Employment, or SITE for short, and it would play a role in helping Howard get back on her feet.   

“I had a little over a year sober, and Tesa came and she talked to us all and said if they could help with anything they would,” Howard said.  

It was the first time Howard had heard of the SITE initiative, and it didn’t take her long to enroll and begin working toward certification as a peer support specialist.

An initiative of Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program (EKCEP), SITE works to bridge the gulf between recovery and productive participation in the workforce by providing eligible Kentuckians with valuable career services while actively cultivating second-chance job opportunities. For Howard, SITE first covered the cost of her training.  

Earning certification in peer support would allow Howard to work in the recovery field and assist others who could be just starting out in their recovery journey or may need help as they’re first released from rehab or incarceration. She said with her background in education it seemed like a natural step to take. 

“I was actually a schoolteacher before I got on drugs and got in trouble, so teaching and helping people was kind of something that interested me,” Howard said. “So, I thought that would be something that I could go into that I could maybe work toward.” 

Getting back into the workforce wasn’t an easy step. Howard said with her past record, even though she held a master’s degree in education, she had trouble landing a job despite putting in multiple applications. But her persistence paid off when she landed her first job in the recovery field with Addiction Recovery Care (ARC), which operates a network of more than 30 addiction treatment facilities in Kentucky. Howard began working at their Creekside facility in Knott County.  

Support from SITE didn’t end even though Howard had secured a job. Turner continued to maintain contact with her and helped cover additional costs Howard would incur to begin working and maintain employment.

“The program gave me money to buy new clothes for work, because I really didn’t have anything,” she said. “And they gave me gas cards so I would have gas to go back and forth to work until I got a paycheck.” 

Essentially, Howard was starting over. Even her living arrangements were a change from what she had been used to, and Turner was able to secure funding to assist her with housing, covering her first month's rent and deposit while she got back on her feet.  

Howard eventually spent four months at Creekside as a case manager before transferring to ARC’s Booneville facility, where she welcomed a shorter commute. She later applied for and landed a new job with Isaiah House Treatment Center in Lee County, putting her even closer to home and continuing to help others facing addiction succeed in their recovery. It’s a vocation, she said, that allows her to do for others what SITE was able to do for her. 

“I didn’t think it would ever be possible,” she said. “And now I have more than I’ve ever thought was possible.” 

Maintaining a job is an important factor in recovery, Howard added, and she's grateful for the help SITE provided. It’s a program that she recommends for others in similar positions. 

To learn more about the services available through SITE, and how the initiative might be able to assist you or someone you know, visit www.ekcep.org/site. 

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.