In March 2020, COVID-19 hit our community shutting down many things.  The Knott County Cooperative Extension Service addressed the need by media trainings to help Nutrition Education Program Assistants (NEP) reach their clients.  The NEP assistant enrolled in these trainings to learn how to reach clients with online media and how to use ZOOM virtual classroom.  Having a resource to provide services to Hickory Hill, a substance abuse inpatient recovery center, is vital to their recovery.  

The Center for Disease Control reported an increase from overdose deaths in Kentucky in 2017.  The United States National Library of Medicine states that a person suffering from substance abuse is more likely to relapse when they have poor eating habits.  The SNAP assistant continued to provide nutrition classes twice a month to around 60 in patient men at the Hickory Hill recovery center.  The Healthy Choices for Every Body Curriculum was used to cover many nutrition topics including MyPlate, meal planning, fats, sugars, sodium, food budgeting, breakfast and other topics.