Paula Clemons Combs

My name is Paula Clemons-Combs and I am proud to say that I am from Eastern Kentucky. Being raised in rural Kentucky has instilled in me a strong sense of family, determination, and desire to leave my mountain home a little better for my children than what it currently is. My parents always wanted for me to succeed in life and they knew education was the key to a future that few of my peers would ever realize. After earning my undergraduate degree from Morehead State University, I returned “home” and have worked in public education for over twenty years.

My husband and I have three wonderful children and together we want to build up our region whether through community or political means so that they have the opportunities that we were blessed with, and, more importantly, to have the choice to stay in Appalachia and raise the next generation. The economy, the (lack of) educational funding, the addiction crisis, treating the working class with respect, and access to healthcare, these are all major factors in the present and must be dealt with so that they are no longer a threat to our future. How can a region, or an entire state for that matter, move forward in a positive manner without the basic building blocks of a healthy society? Standing as witness to the trauma that is inflicted on our most vulnerable citizens on a daily basis, I know we need help that we are not currently getting. It is my hope that through the Emerge KY program that I will learn the skills necessary to serve my people in future endeavors.