A special celebration recently held at the Andrews Research & Education Institute hailed the transition into the job market for five young adults with disabilities: Tyler Bly, Raechal Caile, Vincent Mauro, Da jsha Miller and Amber Pate.
All five attended Santa Rosa County schools until the fall of 2013 when they entered Project SEARCH of Lakeview, a program that places students with disabilities in a workplace environment to prepare them for post-high school employment. They spent half of their time in a classroom with a teacher provided by the Santa Rosa school system and the rest of their time working in a variety of settings or internships with the support of an employment consultant or job coach.
Gulf Breeze Hospital hosts one of the three Project SEARCH sites in Northwest Florida. This year s graduates completed their internships in various departments at the hospital, the Andrews Institute, Helping Hand Missions, and The Blake assisted living and care center in Gulf Breeze. Each graduate acquired competitive, transferable, and marketable skills that will allow him or her to succeed in the workplace.
Tyler completed internships Gulf Breeze Hospital s environmental services, materials management and housekeeping departments. He is a detail oriented, independent worker who shows initiative. He is looking for a stocking or linen/laundry position in the Milton/Pace area.
Raechal worked in the hospital s Breezeway Cafe, Andrews Institute s administration, outpatient registration, surgery information, and as a dietary aide at The Blake at Gulf Breeze. A motivated, conscientious, well organized and dependable worker, Raechal is looking for a customer service position, preferably in a food service environment as a hostess. She also is open to an office or retail setting. Raechal is seeking employment in the Gulf Breeze/Navarre area.
Vincent interned in medical records, outpatient registration, surgery information, food services, and at Helping Hand Missions. He has a strong desire to help others, is good with directions and has excellent phone skills. He also would like a customer service position. His dream job is to be an usher at a movie theater or to work in a retail environment in Milton or Pace.
Da jsha is one of our success stories. She completed internships with Gulf Coast Enterprises and in the radiology and materials management departments at Gulf Breeze Hospital. A dependable, independent worker, she has a positive attitude and follows directions well. Since completing her internships, Da jsha has been offered two part-time positions with Winn-Dixie and West Florida Hospital.
Amber is another model of success. She completed internships with the business office for Andrews Institute s Surgery Center and in food services at Gulf Breeze Hospital, acquiring skills in customer service, basic food preparation, and food safety and sanitation. Persistent in searching for jobs and filling out applications, Amber is employed in the food services department at West Florida Community Care Center in Milton.
"We are very pleased to have Amber with us, said her supervisor Pauline Morris. We are thankful for your program (Project SEARCH) and have hired two people from it.
If you are interested in hiring a Project SEARCH graduate or in learning more about the program, contact Employment Consultant Kathryn Howard or Instructor Marla Randall at Kathryn.Howard@bhcpns.org or Marla.Randall@bhcpns.org. They also can be reached by calling 934-2007.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Project SEARCH in Santa Rosa County