Austin, TX (May 9, 2008) -- Six interns graduated today from the inaugural Project SEARCH internship at Seton Medical Center Austin (SMCA), a member of the Seton Family of Hospitals. Project SEARCH is an innovative workforce and career development internship for people with intellectual disabilities. The Seton Family of Hospitals, which partnered with the Marbridge Foundation, is the first employer in Texas to offer the Project SEARCH training opportunity.
Project SEARCH interns first arrived at SMCA last fall and have completed classroom-based employment skills training and hands-on job training in different departments at the medical center. Participants, whose disabilities range from autism to language disorders, gained valuable experience working in business settings where they could practice work-related life and social skills -- with the ultimate goal of competitive employment.
"The Seton Family of Hospitals is proud to be the first employer in Texas to implement Project SEARCH," said Geronimo Rodriguez, vice president of Diversity and Community Outreach, Seton Family of Hospitals. "To me, Project SEARCH is simply an extension of our mission statement to treat every individual with dignity and respect. At today's graduation, we celebrate the time and talents these interns have given to Seton Medical Center Austin."
Clay Dunnam, a Project SEARCH Class of 2008 graduate who has receptive and language disorders, completed job rotations in Sterile Processing, Food Services, and Supply, Purchasing and Distribution. "During the Project SEARCH internship, I had the opportunity to demonstrate my abilities and talents and learn new skills through the rotations," he said.
Clay, as well as the five other Project SEARCH participants, live at the Marbridge Foundation, a non-profit organization located in Manchaca, Texas, that provides abilities-centered training and lifetime care for adults with intellectual disabilities.
"Project SEARCH owes a great deal of its success to the support of individuals at Seton," said Jenny Hawkins, an employee with Marbridge who serves as the Project SEARCH coordinator at SMCA. "The interns have not only excelled in their rotations, but also have built new skills and developed lasting professional relationships here. We look forward to future offerings of Project SEARCH within the Seton Family of Hospitals, and even more so, we are excited about the future for the interns as they enter the world of competitive employment."
A new class of Project SEARCH interns will begin working at Seton Medical Center Austin in September 2008, and Seton is looking at opportunities to extend Project SEARCH to other locations.
Project SEARCH was established at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital. The program has been replicated in more than 90 hospitals and businesses internationally. In 2004, Project SEARCH was awarded the U.S. Secretary of Labor's New Freedom Initiative Award.
Seton is proud to have four hospitals – the only hospitals in Central Texas - that have earned the