Building Job and Life Skills Through Project SEARCH
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Helping People with Disabilities be Ready for Work
Learning the right skills to be successful at a job is important. Perhaps even more important is having the confidence to know you are ready for whatever lies ahead. It’s learning these types of life skills that make Project SEARCH so impactful.
“Project SEARCH is not just about employment,” says Danielle Jemison, supervisor job developer with EmpowerOne. “It’s knowing you are ready for the world ahead and having the skills to succeed.”
Project SEARCH provides young adults with significant disabilities an opportunity to learn employability and life skills in a unique setting. The nine-month internship takes place entirely at the host business and includes classroom instruction, career exploration and hands-on training through rotations with different departments. Goodwill supports three local Project SEARCH sites: Milwaukee County Zoo, Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport and at Andis Company.
Project SEARCH supports interns in developing employability skills to achieve competitive employment of 16 hours per week or more upon completion.
From 2020-2023, 76 percent of Project SEARCH interns found employment upon program completion.
“There is nothing better than seeing the interns achieve their employment goals and hearing from parents how much growth they see at home,” Jemison says. Beyond learning job skills, interns also build independence and self-advocacy skills that can translate to several areas within their lives. Jemison says interns are often nervous and unsure of themselves when the program starts – but as every week passes, a transformation occurs.
“They learn hard skills they can use in future employment, but we also see friendships emerge, selfadvocacy skills develop and professionalism grow,” she says. “The independence interns develop often translates into the same level of independence outside of Project SEARCH.