The first time Kimberly Longstreet tried to get an education, too many obstacles were in the way.
“I was a teenage mother, and I tried to go to college at a young age. But I was not into good relationships when I was young,” Kimberly says.
Growing up in Winchester, Kimberly looked up to her mom, a single mother of three daughters. “She gave us everything that she possibly could,” she says. “She made sure we had everything we needed.” And Kimberly was a role model for her two younger sisters.
But over time, abusive relationships and drug addiction drained Kimberly’s self-esteem. “I was not the best role model through the years,” she says.
For about 20 years, Kimberly struggled.
“I lost myself there for a long time, and I didn’t know if I’d ever come out of it because I thought I was gone,” she says. “I never thought I’d find myself again.”
Things changed when Kimberly became a grandmother. She’d lost touch with her older son, but was close with her younger son. His two little boys brought her back. “It opened my eyes to life again, having the babies around. I never wanted them to see me in that state of mind.”
Now she spends time every week with Jace, 6, and Damon, 4. “I love looking in their faces and seeing how much they love me, because they look up to me and I never expected that,” she says. “It makes me so happy.”
Kimberly started going to therapy and attending recovery meetings. “And I still continue my therapy today.”
Eventually she started volunteering at a local recovery center, and now she works there. That’s where she learned about the New Opportunity School for Women. “I saw the brochure at the center and I said, ‘That is something I need to look into.’”
“I wanted to get my self-esteem back,” she says. “I had such low self-esteem that it interfered with everything in my life. I couldn’t forgive myself for what I put my family through—and myself.”
She first attended a three-day online program with NOSW and then the residential session in June 2023. Coming to Berea for two weeks, “I was a nervous wreck,” she says. Because Kimberly had isolated herself for so long, being around other people and sharing her story was difficult at first. But those two weeks made a difference.
“I found myself again. I found my voice,” she says. “When I came home, people were saying, ‘You’re so changed, Kim.’”
“I’m more outspoken now. I don’t keep things to myself. I voice my opinion about things now. I’m more determined and believe in myself.”
Just a few months after graduating from NOSW, Kimberly enrolled at Bluegrass Community and Technical College to pursue a degree in human services.
“I’ve always wanted to go back to school all my life, but I’d never had the opportunity to do it.” Through a federal program called Fresh Start that helps returning students with past student loans, she was able to make it work.
In her first semester, her hard work and good grades earned her a spot on the Dean’s List. Her goal is to eventually earn a four-year degree and become a drug and alcohol counselor.
“I want to do the best I can do,” Kimberly says.
