When speaking to officials from our region, they say that the two biggest issues Lawrence County faces are an opioid epidemic and a lack of good-paying jobs in the region.

As more addicts go through treatment, they are in need of recovery groups, who provide valuable therapy and help to instill basic life skills and help those enrolled re-enter society.

With the need for recovery organizations growing, so too is the need for qualified staff.

Fortunately, there is one option that may help.

Riverside Recovery Services, partnered with Impact Prevention, are making use of a recent grant to offer a 40-hour class to be a licensed chemical dependency counselor.

The class is being offered in three sessions, with the first having started last week and two more planned for March.

The course is free of cost and completely covered by the grant and, as Riverside says, there will be many job openings in the field in coming months requiring such a license.

Every possible path to battling this crisis is much needed. And this option can help twofold.

Those who qualify will be eligible to apply for these possible job positions.

For more information, contact Riverside’s offices.

We encourage those who are qualified and interested to seek out this opportunity and we applaud Riverside and Impact Prevention for making it available.