Not long ago, a 9-to-5 workday at her factory job was a rare thing for Vickie Long. In most cases, she worked 9-to-7, or some other version of a 10-hour workday. Often, her workweek was six or seven days of fast-paced, intense physical labor.

The contrast between Vickie's current job and her former one is startling. Today, she is a medical records technologist for St. Claire HomeCare, St. Claire Regional Medical Center's home-health agency based in Morehead. The constant pressure of assembly-line work has been replaced by a wealth of new responsibilities and the satisfaction of ensuring that patients in eight counties have access to life-sustaining medical equipment in their homes.

"It's wonderful," Vickie said of her job. "I don't think I could have found anything better."

The crucial factors in her career change were an unexpected layoff and the opportunities and support provided by the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Dislocated Worker Program. The federally funded program helps workers who have lost their jobs retrain for new careers.

Although she had longed to leave the factory lifestyle behind, she never imagined she would be forced out of it. Then she was laid off from the West Liberty factory where she had worked for nearly seven years when the company closed its doors and moved its operations to Canada and Mexico in July 2002. Unsure of her next move, Vickie assumed she would have to find work at another factory, or even slip back into a minimum-wage job at a discount store or fast food restaurant.

The seeds of her upward move were planted during a Rapid Response meeting conducted by the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (EKCEP) and its partner agencies in the JobSight workforce network. Held just before the factory closed, the meeting helped Vickie and other employees learn about services available to laid-off workers, such as Unemployment Insurance.

At the Rapid Response meeting, Sidney Castle, a WIA case manager for the Gateway Community Service Organization (Gateway CSO), explained the WIA Dislocated Worker Program to Vickie and the others. The program is administered by EKCEP and provided locally through Gateway CSO. Learning what the Dislocated Worker Program could do for her made Vickie start thinking that there was more to life than what she had experienced in her former job.

Vickie soon visited Sidney to explore her options and decided that she wanted to pursue an education and a skilled career. Sidney gave Vickie the good news that the Dislocated Worker Program would fully cover her tuition to enroll in the medical records technology program at Rowan Technical College. Sidney also said Vickie was eligible for the program's supportive services that would cover college-related costs for transportation, food and books.

The supportive services were extremely important in light of her nearly 80-mile round-trip daily commute from her home to Morehead, Vickie said.

"Without the WIA's services, I would have never been able to make it," Vickie said. "Being laid off, with only my husband's income, I wouldn't have been able to afford to commute to Morehead every day to go to class and do what I had to do."

The WIA provided her a sense of security, and Vickie was able to fully dedicate herself to her studies. Her hard work paid off: Vickie was on the Dean's List each of the three semesters she attended Rowan Technical College, had near-perfect attendance, and was nominated for a National Merit Award. She graduated in December 2003 with a diploma in medical records technology.

After graduation, Vickie was eager to find a job. Although she had performed 80 hours of internship work in the administrative offices of the Morgan County Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) Hospital, a job was not available there. Vickie kept looking, and Sidney did, too.

"I was constantly watching the job postings for her," Sidney said.

Vickie also would call St. Claire Regional Medical Center each time she spotted an advertisement for a job that she might qualify for. Her break came in late January when she called the hospital and was informed of two job openings in the hospital's home health agency, one for a billing clerk and the other for a medical records technologist. Vickie applied and interviewed for the latter of the two. She soon was offered the medical records technologist's position, which she immediately accepted.

"Later, they told me that 16 people interviewed for the job, and four of them had four-year college degrees," Vickie said with a smile. "I'm tickled to death that they chose me over all of those people."

In her new job, Vickie also waits on patients who come into the office needing medical equipment, and helps determine whether their insurance will cover the equipment they are requesting.

"All new patients who need equipment have to come through me," Vickie said. "My job entails answering the phone, taking referrals, registering new equipment, taking admissions for the whole medical equipment facility, and making sure all equipment is delivered, picked up or changed out."

"I don't think I could have found anything better," Vickie said.

Sidney said she is proud of Vickie's achievements, and glad the WIA was able to play such a key role in her transformation into a medical professional.

"She said at first that she didn't feel like she could do anything other than factory work," Sidney said. "But you can achieve anything you put your mind to, if you want it badly enough. Vickie is living proof."

The WIA gave Vickie the opportunity to prove to herself that she could indeed make a significant career change that has changed every aspect of her life for the better.

"Now, I've still got energy when I go home, and I can enjoy my family and other things," Vickie said. "This is what life is supposed to be like. I can help people, do my job, and still have the energy to enjoy myself."

That does not mean things don't get hectic sometimes. The after-effects of one of the four hurricanes that slammed Florida this summer recently caused a round of severe flash-flooding in Rowan and surrounding counties. Vickie and her supervisor, Becky Parker, snapped into action, dispatching drivers and ensuring that all home-health patients had adequate oxygen and other crucial medical equipment before the area roads flooded.

In the midst of the intense activity, Vickie could still muster a contented smile.

"What I did before was just a job; this is a career," she said. "It's rewarding when you can do something where you help others. That's what it's all about."