As the smell of a spaghetti lunch began to fill the air at Dinosaur Playland Day Care in Prestonsburg, Amber Burchett helped three-year-old Abigayle Justice adjust the oversized sun hat that she likes to use to play dress up. The two smiled at each other—smiles being one of the many rewards Amber gets from her summer job.

Amber is one of thousands of eastern Kentuckians who were employed this summer thanks to the WorkNow Kentucky program. Overall, WorkNow Kentucky placed over 4,750 eastern Kentuckians to work in positions with over 1,250 employers in 23 eastern Kentucky mountain counties.

In four months, WorkNow paid over $9.5 million in wages locally to help stimulate the eastern Kentucky economy.

More than just providing a summer job, WorkNow gave Amber an experience that helped her learn about her interests and choose a career path for herself.

“I always knew I wanted to do something with kids,” said Amber, “but working with the children at Dinosaur Playland has focused my goals toward helping children overcome speech problems as a speech therapist.”

Working with some of the children and seeing how they struggled to speak clearly when trying to tell a story inspired her to major in communications disorders at the University of Kentucky this fall.

“A couple of the kids, when they get excited you can barely understand them,” she said.

WorkNow placed workers in jobs with a wide range of employers, including private businesses, state and local government agencies, and non-profit organizations — and paid 100 percent of the workers’ wages.

Funds for the WorkNow Kentucky program were provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Fund, and a cooperative effort of Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the Cabinet for Education and Workforce Development. The Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Inc., (EKCEP) administer the program in 23 eastern Kentucky counties providing services through contracts with agencies like the Big Sandy Area Community Action Agency (BSACAP), which placed Amber.

Amber said the staff at the BSACAP office in Prestonsburg made it easy for her to sign up for WorkNow and had her placed quickly.

This summer Amber has watched over the children, played games with them, and gotten to know their personalities. She said she “learned a lot” from her WorkNow experience, which was her first full-time job, and she’s grateful for the opportunity provided by WorkNow.

“I really liked it,” she said. “It’s a good way to try out a career and see if it’s what you really want to do.”

Amber’s employer, Karen Martin, owner of Dinosaur Playland, was glad to have her help with this summer’s workload.

“She’s been really great,” Karen said.

Karen said she thinks WorkNow was not only a good opportunity for businesses to get extra summer help, but also a good way for young people to keep busy and stay out of trouble during the summer. She added she would recommend other businesses take advantage of WorkNow or other summer work opportunities provided by EKCEP through the Big Sandy Area Community Action Program.

“It’s good. I’d encourage everyone to get involved,” she said.

For more information about EKCEP’s programs and services for employers and job seekers in this area, call  886-2948 or visit www.ekcep.org or www.facebook.com/ekcep.