With Help from SITE, Courtney Flood Continues Work On Recovery and Jumpstarts His Business

Alcoholism played a role in Courtney Flood’s life for years, though for much of that time it was a condition that he didn’t recognize. That was until 2017 when he finally entered treatment and completed his initial recovery, only to relapse not long after.

It was a step backwards, he says, and one that proved detrimental.

“The urgency, the seriousness of my condition, I kind of forgot about that,” Flood says, describing that period of his life. “I’m not going to make that mistake again.”

Courtney Flood works on a job installing carpet in Georgetown, Ky.

A native of Georgia, Flood has made his home in Kentucky for the past few years. He’s currently living in transitional housing with P&N Promises in Georgetown as he completes Alcoholics Anonymous’ 12 Steps. He’s nearly complete and already back to working as a flooring installer, thanks to assistance from the Strategic Initiative for Transitional Employment (SITE).

An initiative of the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program (EKCEP), Inc. and funded by the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort (KORE), SITE provides valuable career, training, and supportive services while actively cultivating second-chance job opportunities. Flood credits the assistance he received from SITE Job Entry and Retention Support Specialist Terri Hudson with helping him get his business back up and running as quickly as he did.

Flood first learned of SITE from another of Hudson’s clients in January 2021. He says at first it sounded too good to be true that someone would provide funding to help him get his business back up and running, but that’s exactly what happened.

“I called Terri, and what a wonderful woman she is, she’s so helpful,” Flood says. “She’s helped a lot of guys, she’s a rock star here at P&N Promises.”

Flood has made a career as an expert flooring installer with years of experience, but says he didn’t have the tools and equipment needed to get back to work after re-entering treatment. 

 “I needed help getting all of the tools and everything, because it’s a big investment,” Flood says. “Money is kind of hard to come by.”

Flood says he sent Hudson his business plan and she enrolled him for SITE and secured the funding needed to help purchase the equipment he needed to begin accepting jobs again. Through SITE funding, Hudson was able to cover the cost for a variety of flooring tools for Flood to get started back to work, such as a knee kicker, staplers, and others.

“Terri did all of the heavy lifting on that,” Flood says. “I’m equipped and ready to go; I’m going to work today.”

Flood has taken several jobs since first contacting Hudson and SITE, and since starting work has been able to purchase a van he can use to carry gear to and from jobsites. He’s also begun helping other men in his sober living facility take on odd jobs when he can, and is considering entering peer support training to use his own experiences to provide help for others in treatment.

“It’s like a ripple effect,” he says. “It helps me, and that frees me up to be of service to the guys of the house, the community, and work my program. A big part of that is helping other people.”

As for his future, Flood says he has plans and will continue to work on his sobriety, stay busy, and build on his business, the latter of which he says got a significant jumpstart through SITE, as it would have taken him a lot longer to get back to work on his own.

“I’m just gonna take it one day at a time,” he says. “I’m just gonna get everything and get fully equipped and rock and roll and start sponsoring some guys, you know, do my part.”

To learn more about SITE and available services, visit 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.