Growing up in Louisville, Machelle faced a difficult childhood that eventually led her down a path of drug and alcohol addiction. But when her first husband passed away from similar circumstances, she knew something had to change.
“I watched him literally decay from the inside out,” she said.
Determined to build a better life, Machelle moved her family to Hopkinsville. There, she began helping individuals with special needs, including some who were suffering from addiction.
“We got to know each other so well,” she said. “I had to steer their thinking and their sense of purpose. We were there to help them grow.”
For years, Machelle dedicated herself to lifting others up—even opening her home to a family of five, in addition to caring for her own five-person household. But after returning to Louisville, she realized it was finally time to focus on her own healing and stability.
“I was always taught to see a need and fill a need,” she said. “So that’s what I’ve always done. I don’t know another way to be.”
After several months of homelessness, Machelle and her partner found permanent housing earlier this year, just steps away from Goodwill Kentucky’s West Louisville Opportunity Center. Curious about the organization’s mission, she decided to stop by.
That visit changed everything. Machelle enrolled in Goodwill Kentucky’s job-readiness training, completed the program, and will begin her new job with Goodwill next week. She has remained sober, found stability, and celebrated a new beginning when she remarried in July.
“What we’re going through now is a positive step,” she said. “I had migraines every day for seven or eight months. Since we’ve been doing this, I haven’t had any.”
“It feels good not to have stress.”