London hosts Work Forge, first ever expungement clinic

Sep. 27—A unique facet of finding employees to meet the needs of employers came to London on Tuesday.

Fair Chance Works was founded by Dr. Scott Stuckey as a means to help those in recovery or in prison to learn skills to re-enter the work force.

"We are promoting fair and second chance work opportunities," he said. "As a business, we train people in prison and recovery to improve their skills so when they do go for a job interview they are more successful."

Tuesday's event was the first such job recruiting effort, with several local businesses setting up tables for information and job opportunities. Among those were The Job Shop, Nesco Resources, Laurel County Adult Education, Goodwill, St. Joseph London, Kroger and Aisin.

But a first-ever facet of the Work Forge program was a free expungement clinic to assist those with felony charges.

"We have folks from the Dept. of Corrections hosting an expungement clinic. It's the first time Laurel County has had an expungement clinic, and this helps people who have Class D felonies or less who are five years out to have their charges expunged," he said. "That means it doesn't show up on your record. If they do qualify, we have free legal advisors from AppleRed to help them. Finally we have community service providers with a full host of things from work force development to re-entry and recovery."

Stuckey said the programs have been held in some Kentucky jails and had recently received a grant to work with the Opioid and Vaping Commission. That would provide 150 jobs to work with that program.

Those organizations participating in the event reported a good turnout. The expungement clinic proved successful in its own right, with several of those participants moving on to the AppalRed section to receive legal aid for their cases.

Jaimee Parman and Angela Pitts represented the London Kroger stores, and said they had received interest from several of those attending the program on Tuesday.

Charlie Smith with The Job Shop said several people had applied and/or inquired for positions with their company, while the Laurel County Adult Education and Literacy program were on hand to help those seeking to finish their high school education. The Kentucky Career Center and Saint Joseph London were also available to answer questions or give information on their job opportunities.

The Laurel County Extension Service was also present for the event, taking information about eating habits and signing people up for a cooking class. Eating healthy and utilizing local produce is also a focus of the Extension Service, which was also offering recipes with fall produce.