Employee sees lives being changed

TaMara Lawson, Lifeline employee

When TaMara Lawson hears a phone conversation with a co-worker, it often ends with, “Love you, bye!”

While that closing is usually reserved for family conversations, Lawson said it feels appropriate in her new workplace at Lifeline Recovery Center, where she’s been responsible for financial and other administrative duties since January.

“It feels like a family here,” she said. “It makes it easy to come to work.”

TaMara is one of only two of Lifeline’s 13 employees who did not go through the program or suffer from addiction.

A Ballard County native, she has worked in other area offices, including USEC’s human resources office. She didn’t know much about Lifeline, until a friend from her church, World Harvest Church of Paducah, told her about a job opening.

“I thought it was a halfway house for people from jail,” she said. “I got here and found out how much fruit is being produced here for the Kingdom.”

Like her, she said many in the community don’t know much about Lifeline, specifically:

“We have to turn away so many people.” Four out of five applicants are denied because of limited space and resources, so Lifeline’s board and leadership are working to generate more community support to help more people. Lives are really changed here.”

One year after they complete the ninemonth program, 63 percent of graduates are still sober.

It’s very rewarding to see how the community supports Lifeline and rightfully so.

One of TaMara’s duties is tracking the many donations that support the center. “It’s very rewarding to see how much the community supports Lifeline and rightfully so,” she said.

Community support to help their clients achieve their goals makes Lifeline a very rewarding workplace, TaMara said. “People come here because of drugs, but they stick around because of Christ.”