About our Women

People who spend time with Jessica Swafford will see her quiet wisdom and hope. “I’m always trying to find the silver lining,” says Jessica, who attended the NOSW residential program in 2008 and 2022. But Jessica’s perspective has been shaped by ... [Continue reading]

Edna Igo believes that if her work makes a difference for at least one child, it will all have been worth it. Edna and her husband, Emmitt, opened Igo’s Boxing and Fitness Center in Richmond in 2010. Emmitt had been a boxer and coach, and their ... [Continue reading]

Mia Mullins grew up in Virgie, Kentucky, got married at 16 and struggled with addiction. During her first time in recovery, her counselor recommended NOSW and Mia applied. In her essay she wrote that she didn’t want her past to define the rest of ... [Continue reading]

When Beth Minor first heard about the New Opportunity School for Women, she was a single mom with a four-year-old daughter and a baby son, living with her parents while going through a divorce and undergoing chemotherapy for ovarian cancer. But ... [Continue reading]

Angel Jones always wanted a career, but life intervened in a number of ways. She experienced trauma as a kid and was in the state’s care. When she got out of the system, she was past 18 and hadn’t had a chance to finish high school. She struggled ... [Continue reading]

Sarah Rose wants to make people happy. She has a cheerleader costume, a clown suit and a purple sparkly cape. “When you look at me, I want to give you hope,” she says. But Sarah herself has seen some dark days. In 2013 her husband died of kidney ... [Continue reading]

Latona Gamble describes herself as a “generational curse breaker.” After years of family toxicity, she came to the New Opportunity School for Women in 2014—mentally, physically, and spiritually broken. She was referred by her counselor, a graduate ... [Continue reading]

Chaney Jackson lives in Eastern Kentucky and is the proud mother of twins. “My twins make me want to be a better version of myself,” she says. “That’s how I was introduced to the New Opportunity School for Women.” A co-worker had attended NOSW, ... [Continue reading]

Even before she came to NOSW, Barb Harvey was an advocate—for women, rural people, and those who struggled with mental health and addiction. She lobbied in Frankfort, convincing legislators to fund peer support for people with addiction. “I ... [Continue reading]

Jennifer West arrived for the fall 2019 residential program after having just completed drug rehab. During those two weeks in Berea, the barriers and chains that had held her seemed to fall away, she explains. She learned it was okay to ask for help ... [Continue reading]