20 Stories of Impact

After losing a cousin and a close friend to overdose, Jessica Kluz was inspired to take her skills as an educator to help more people learn about addiction. Today she is teaching prevention and wellness to a wide range of community members, including an audience that is often overlooked - older adults. 

Jessica manages the Thrive Over 55 program which helps promote healthy lifestyle choices by addressing topics that affect older persons including physical changes, stress, managing prescriptions, isolation and loneliness, and behaviors that may be linked to substance misuse. She collaborates with the community coalitions to bring the program resources to senior community centers, independent living facilities, and other locations. 

She was drawn to the position as a wellness and prevention specialist because it involved working with the community, as she had in her previous role as a health and nutrition educator. But it was the way the Alliance embraces its employee’s life experience and uniqueness that sealed the deal for her.

“From the very beginning I felt challenged to go outside the box from what I knew, and empowered to take what I do know and bring something new to the table that is creative and embodies myself as a person.”