Crisis to Career: Kayla Parsons’ Story
This series is a collaboration between the Leviza Lazer and Addiction Recovery Care to report on men and women’s struggles as they went from active-addiction to abundant-recovery. With half of its 400+ employees in recovery from substance use disorder, Addiction Recovery Care (ARC), LLC. is leading the way in Appalachia when it comes to combining drug treatment and vocational training that results in second chance employment. Roughly one-third of ARC’s approximately 450 employees are graduates of an ARC treatment program. ARC believes that the solution to the nation’s workforce issues is lying dormant in the lives of those who are struggling with addiction or alcoholism.
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It’s a woman’s world! These are good times to be a professional female on the go. Women are being elected to Congress in record numbers. They are leading companies. And they are filling the top levels of professional life. So in many ways, it’s not very remarkable that Kayla Parsons, a rising professional woman on the go, was recently made Deputy Chief of Staff for Development and Projects at Addiction Recovery Care – a company that is itself rapidly on the go.
In her corporate position, Kayla, a proud mom of two, works on a variety of projects for a firm that has rapidly expanded employees and facilities over the past few years, and now employs nearly 500 workers. She constantly juggles responsibilities at work in addition to filling her role as a wife and a mom.
Like any professional in the top ranks of her company, Kayla believes deeply in its mission. She knows its personnel and facilities deeply. She should: Addiction Recovery Care isn’t just her employer. It’s the company that saved her life.
Now 31 years old, Kayla previously spent 10 long years in active-addiction. By the time she finally entered treatment at Karen’s Place on August 11, 2016, she felt hopeless, alone, and emotionless. She remembers: “I thought the only way out of my addiction was by death. An overdose was the best outcome I could hope for.”
ARC treated her clinical issues, nursed her back to health, and helped walk her into a close relationship with Jesus that now fills her spiritual void. Kayla looks at her current life with a great deal of awe and wonder. “Everything that I do today surprises me! I never thought a life like this could happen for a person like me. I thought I was too far gone.”
She looks back at her time in addiction and sees a powerful lesson for others who struggle. “There have been several moments in my recovery when I thought that I had to come to the end of the road. I thought that it was all over, but really God was just shutting one door so that He could open bigger, better doors. Sometimes setbacks seem like the end, but a lot of times they’re just the beginning.”
Kayla’s optimism fills her with excitement for the future. “The Bible tells us in Ephesians that God is able to do more than we could ask or even imagine. My goal is to keep walking the path that God has in place for me, wherever it may lead.”
In many ways, Kayla embodies ARC’s motto: “from crisis to career.” “I have a house, a husband, my kids, and an amazing job. I am surrounded at all times by God’s blessings! Every day God blows my mind with how big and how quickly He has not only restored my life, but He has given me a life that I could never have dreamed of.”
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Addiction Recovery Care’s motto is simple: From Crisis to Career- #FromCrisistoCareer .
ARC is a substance use disorder treatment company based in Louisa. It has outpatient and in-patient facilities around Kentucky. It gives select clients with 60 days of residential treatment the option to become an intern, and to simultaneously continue with their treatment and learn the ins and outs of operating a treatment program.
ARC treats both men and women in separate facilities and is also a leader in maternity care for pregnant and new mothers. It combines occupational-rebuilding with treatment for addiction to create a continuum for rebuilding lives.
ARC believes supporting a client’s discovery of a sense of purpose combined with employment is a critical factor in long-term recovery, and it prides itself on helping clients first achieve sobriety and then helping them discover their God-given destiny. ARC is the largest substance-abuse treatment provider for women in Kentucky, and is proud of the fact that it has a large workforce of women in its corporate leadership.
