The Opportunity Services‘ Vision, “to see communities openly engaging in the contributions of people with disabilities,” is brought to life in the Project SEARCH program, which OS began working with at the beginning of the school year, in Tallahassee, Florida.  Currently, OS is supporting 10 interns, who work in a variety of areas within Leon County Government, including: administration, tourism, facilities, probation, and animal control.

Project SEARCH started in 1996 as program for students with disabilities, aged 18 to 21, that allows these students to work in internships in the community.  Students learn from both on-the-job training as well as classroom training at the job site.  Each student spends one year in the program.

After visiting other successful Project SEARCH programs, OS knew that the Project SEARCH model is an excellent match. Per Allyson Ostwalt, who works at an Project SEARCH Employment Specialist with OS, “We had never seen anything like it…[we] were very impressed with the results…it benefits the individual, employer and community as a whole.”

OS is working to provide job coaching and support at the various internships.  Then, OS Employment Specialists may work with interns, post their internships, to find permanent positions.

Recently, OS began managing another Project SEARCH site, in Minnesota, at Medtronic.

Jeremy Gurney, OS Project Director and lead on the Project SEARCH development, said that this program prepares students with disabilities for, “long-term…full-time employment in non-traditional jobs.”

The first semester went exceedingly well, at the Tallahassee program. In fact, two more interns were added for the second semester.

Per Allyson, expansion of the Project SEARCH program is further evidence that attitudes of business leaders towards people with disabilities are changing.  “[Project SEARCH] provides awareness to our communities of the contributions and successes of individuals with disabilities in the workforce [as well as] changing business culture.”