Having hit rock bottom after the loss of her unborn son, Buncombe County resident Kelly Portch was climbing her way back from drug addiction and multiple incarcerations when the global COVID-19 pandemic reared its head and knocked her down again.
Like a lot of people across the country, Portch found herself out of work during the height of the pandemic. But, thanks to a vehicle she obtained through Working Wheels, she was able to go to school to obtain training in a whole new profession.
Today, the former convict and substance abuser has a good-paying job as a commercial truck driver for a local hauling company that enables her to care for her 77-year-old mother in Weaverville. It’s been a long journey for Portch, who credits the Working Wheels program with setting her on the road to recovery, success and happiness.
Her difficulties began many years ago when she turned to self-medication to help cope when her child died in the womb in 1991. She was living in Yountville, California, at the time, working as a firefighter and security officer at a veterans’ facility in the Napa County town.
Looking for a fresh start, Portch moved to Phoenix, Arizona, in 1994, and then to North Carolina 10 years later. But her personal demons followed in her footsteps.
“I had become addicted to methamphetamine, which started after my first son was stillborn. I was trying to hide from the overwhelming grief of losing a child,” she said. “Then I was arrested on Sept. 14, 2014, for making my own methamphetamine because by then my habit was completely out of control.”
Portch was released from the Buncombe County Detention Center in April 2015, and her case was settled the next April when she was placed on probation for two years. But then tragedy struck when the man she was caring for died unexpectedly.
“I had nursed him through cancer. He had squamous cell carcinoma and had lost the whole left side of his face and his eye,” she said. “He was doing really good and had just finished radiation. But, three days later, he had a massive aneurysm and was dead before he hit the ground. I relapsed hard and violated my probation.”
Portch served nine months in the North Carolina Correctional Institute for Women. After being released in August 2017, she was arrested again in May 2018 because of a judicial error before being released on July 7, 2018. But she relapsed and started using meth again.
Realizing she needed help to overcome her addiction, Portch searched for a sober-living facility. On July 18, 2018, she moved into Biltmore Housing, a transitional recovery housing program designed to help individuals seeking long-term recovery. That proved a pivotal decision, and it provided a connection to Working Wheels that would pay dividends down the road.
Portch’s case manager with Buncombe County’s re-entry program guided her through an update of her resume and introduced her to the Working Wheels program, a nonprofit organization based in Buncombe County that collects donated vehicles in any condition, repairs them as needed and sells them for $500 to families in need of transportation.
“He truly helped me get back on my feet,” she said. “In early 2019, he told me about Working Wheels, and he referred me. I was able to get a 2003 Toyota Corolla in July 2019.”
The acquisition of that vehicle was made possible in large part because Portch was one of the rare beneficiaries of Working Wheels transportation able to drive a car with a manual transmission.
Portch would go on to land a position at a regional plumbing services firm. She was on the verge of turning the corner after surviving addiction and incarceration when COVID-19 arrived in the U.S. Her job was among the casualties of the pandemic, and Portch once again found herself in dire straits.
She turned back to her previous case manager who then helped her apply for – and secure – scholarship support to enroll in Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College’s commercial driver’s license program.
“I was able to get my CDL license,” she said. “The classes start at 6 a.m., and there are no buses that early. The car I received through Working Wheels was the only reason I was able to complete the course.”
Portch graduated with a GPA of 3.7, and she was quickly hired by a local hauling company driving dump trucks. “I started with the company on Sept. 14, 2020, making $17 an hour. After three years, I’m now making $23.50 an hour and averaging around $1,200 a week gross.”
Having access to dependable transportation enabled Portch to obtain the credentials she needed to land a steady job, allowing her to help care for her mother. “My mom has an aneurysm as well as a tumor over her right eye. She has no stability, falls a lot, her hands shake really bad, and she has major malnutrition issues,” she said. “She has to have a blood transfusion every couple months, plus she’s really forgetful. She has almost burnt the house down several times because she forgets she’s cooking.”
Portch has installed smoke detectors in every room in her mother’s house and replaced numerous appliances, the well pump and most of the furniture, including her bed, with the income she now has after training made possible by a car obtained through Working Wheels.
‘I believe in this program with everything I’ve got,” Portch said. “I have almost six years in recovery, making more than I ever have and can hold my head high. ‘’I’m on no state or county benefits and am totally self-sufficient.”
For more information on Working Wheels, visit the website workingwheelswnc.org or call (828) 633- 6888.