This summer the WorkNow Kentucky program provided jobs that gave more than 4,750 eastern Kentuckians a chance to earn money and learn work skills. For many it also offered a chance to start a new and better chapter in their lives.

“We’re very pleased with the number of workers and employers who have responded to WorkNow. We’ve heard so many stories of people who have used it as an opportunity to make their lives better and of employers who have used it as a chance to mentor a new generation of workers,” said Jeff Whitehead, executive director of the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (EKCEP), which provided WorkNow services in 23 eastern Kentucky counties through contractor agencies.

“So often we hear negative stereotypes about this area’s workers,” Whitehead said. “But the enthusiasm that greeted this  program proves people in eastern Kentucky want to work and will work if given an opportunity.”

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

In the 23 mountain counties served by EKCEP, WorkNow Kentucky put over 4,750 eastern Kentuckians to work in positions with over 1,250 employers. In four months, the program paid over $9.5 million in wages locally to help stimulate the eastern Kentucky economy.

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.

WorkNow came at just the right time for Ginger Hackett, who worked this summer as custodian at Harlan County High School and still works for the school system as substitute custodian. She had just moved back to the county where she grew up after more than two decades in Florida.

“When my father was passing away of cancer, he asked me to stay here with my extended family after he was gone,” she said. Ginger dutifully agreed. When her immediate family moved to Harlan County, they needed a place to stay and a second income. She also found herself getting bored and restless at home, and desperately wanted something to do.

Fortunately, Ginger heard about WorkNow and got in touch with Megan Mosely, a WIA career adviser at Harlan County Community Action Agency, which delivers Workforce Investment Act Programs and WorkNow locally under contract with EKCEP. Megan understood Ginger’s need to work and her desire to return to her eastern Kentucky roots, and quickly helped her find a WorkNow job with the school system as a custodian at the high school.

“Megan is just really wonderful,” Ginger said, adding she has always been there to help or to answer questions.

Although Ginger had worked only as a homemaker for the past eight years and had never worked as a custodian, she quickly adapted to the job. She enjoyed working with the school’s employees and students, and began to take pride in ensuring the school was clean.

“You really want to keep it shiny,” she said. “I feel like I’ve done something at the end of the day.”

Ginger did such a good job during her summer WorkNow job that the school system kept her as a substitute custodian after the program ended. She hopes to get a full-time job working for the school system when a position comes open.

Although her WorkNow position was a temporary summer job, Ginger understood it was also an opportunity to impress an employer that might potentially offer her longer-term employment.

“If you really want to work, and show people you really want to work, most of them will hire you,” Ginger said.

Megan said she has been impressed by Ginger’s work ethic.

“She’s the type of person who, any job you put before her, she can do it or she will keep working at it until she can,” Megan said. “If I had my own business I’d hire her.”

Ginger was dependable and did her job well, according to Edward Clem, Harlan County Schools supervisor.

“She’s been an asset to the school,” he said. “She worked like it was a full time job even though it was temporary. That’s how she treated it.”

For more information about EKCEP’s training and job placement initiatives for youth and adults in your area, call or visit www.ekcep.org. Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ekcep. Or call 589-3246.