The Tri-County Interagency Council, consisting of Santa Rosa, Escambia and Okaloosa Counties, aims to collaborate in helping area youth and young adults with disabilities make the transition find a career following high school.
“Our students with disabilities, once they graduate from high school, need support for different reasons,” said Linda Andrews, the ESE transition manager for Santa RosaCounty. “We try to create opportunities for them to learn job and employee skills and independent living skills.”
This week the council held meetings at the Santa RosaCountySchool District’s Berryhill Administrative building, allowing like-minded organizations, teachers, administrators, job coaches and even students to network amongst each other sharing resources and information.
“This is creating an awareness, that is what we are here to do,” Andrews said.
During Thursday’s meeting several of the agencies shared how their program benefits the local special needs community.
One of those programs is Project SEARCH, a business-led collaborative effort which enables young adults with disabilities, between the ages 18 and 21, to gain and maintain employment through career training and exploration.
Marla Randall, an instructor with Project SEARCH, said the high school transition program offers internships at GulfBreezeHospital and the Andrews Institute.
“It’s basically a work training program,” said Pace resident John Parker Sington, an intern of Project SEARCH. “They put us through three different internships throughout the school year and it is through the school system.”
Parker said once the internship is completed, job coaches will assist the intern with finding permanent job placement.
As part of his internship at the GulfBreezeHospital, Sington said he worked as a patient escort and assisted with clerical work.
“I love it,” he said. “The people that are there are really, really nice. I haven’t met one rude person.”
Although Parker is considering working a similar career field, he does have another line of interest.
“My ultimate dream job is that I want to be a radio broadcaster, I want to be an on air personality on the radio,” Sington said.
Sington said he has previously seen how several area radio stations operate behind the scenes.
Following his current internship, Sington will soon turn 22 years-old. too old to continue to intern. Randall said the agency will soon be looking for a job placement opportunity for Signton either in the Milton or Pace.
Navarre resident Raechal Caile, went through a similar internship at GulfBreezeHospital through the Hope that Heals organization. Caile has been working three days a week for nearly a year at the hospital, providing cleaning services at the medical facility.
Like Sington, Caile also enjoys the friendly atmosphere.
“The people there are very nice,” she said. “I just love getting to know the different people.”
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Council aims to serve young adults with disabilities