Bell Countian Tessa Caldwell Begins Nursing Career with Help from Bell-Whitley Career Center

It’s early afternoon and rain is falling in Pineville as Tessa Caldwell enters the Bell-Whitley Kentucky Career Center. She is not far removed from an all-night shift at her job, but her smile widens as she starts to talk about the work she does. 

A Bell County native, Caldwell is a nurse at Middlesboro Health and Rehabilitation. It’s a job that marks the beginning of a career that she spent the past couple of years preparing for, and one which not only allows her to earn a living close to home, but to do so while doing what she loves.  

Tessa Caldwell

“I think it’s really rewarding to work there,” she says.

Becoming a nurse was something Caldwell wanted since working first as a certified nurse aid (CNA) and realizing then what she wanted out of her professional life. The career services at Bell-Whitley played no small part in helping her reach that goal, she says.

“I just realized I really do love to take care of people,” Caldwell says. “I know that sounds so cliché, but I really do enjoy it. After that I decided I wanted to go to nursing school, so I did.” 

In 2021, Caldwell applied for acceptance into Southeast Kentucky and Community Technical College’s (SKCTC) nursing program. It was then that an acquaintance who works at Bell-Whitley Community Action Agency told her about career and employment services there that may be available to help her with certain costs of enrolling in and continuing her education at SKCTC.  

A partner in the Kentucky Career Center JobSight network of workforce centers, Bell-Whitley provides Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) services in Bell County under contract with Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program (EKCEP). Those services include programs for adults, dislocated workers, and youth who may need assistance honing skills such as résumé building or networking with local employers, or who need assistance being retrained or going to school. 

For Caldwell, those services proved valuable as they covered different costs she would incur while enrolled at SKCTC.

“I make my own money, do things for myself, so it’s pretty expensive to get all the supplies you need to go to nursing school,” she says. “Honestly, this is a really great program to help people better themselves.” 

Working with the WIOA staff at Bell-Whitley was an easy process, Caldwell adds. When she applied for the program in 2021, she was able to work closely with her first career advisor, Rudelle Greene, who later retired, and then with her current advisor, Tina Campbell. In both instances, Caldwell says they remained in touch with her and helped ensure issues she was having were addressed.

“So, anything that came with the nursing program they covered,” Caldwell says, adding that the WIOA program covered costs for items ranging from scrubs and shoes to a tuition fee, books, and a fee for a required certification exam.

Having a local program with the kinds of services available at Bell-Whitley was an important component for Caldwell’s success as she balanced her time between work, school, and taking care of everyday needs. She maintained that balance over two years, successfully graduating in December 2022.  

It wasn’t long before Caldwell began working at Middlesboro Health and Rehab, and says now she’s looking forward to not just a job, but a career where she can use the skills she gained to help others in her community in a meaningful way. She’s thankful for the assistance she received from Bell-Whitley, and would recommend others who may be looking for a new job or training for a career like she was to look into those services as well. 

“I think with a program like this it’s just opening up opportunity for a lot of people in this area,” she says. “If it was not for this program, there’s no way I would have been able to afford to go to nursing school.”

If you’re interested in applying for career and employment services at the Bell-Whitley Kentucky Career Center JobSight, or just want to learn more, call 606-337-3044 or visit jobsight.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 job seekers and employers all under one roof. Learn more about us at http://www.ekcep.org or http://www.facebook.com/ekcep.