Project Search is a program started in Cincinnati, Ohio 11 years ago, and aims to assist individuals with disabilities find a future in the workforce. Brevard Workforce Development Board, Inc. obtained a grant to start a similar program here in Brevard County and helped to coordinate the partner meetings to advance the program.

Partners in the project included The Brevard Leadership Network, Holmes Regional Medical Center, Mercedes Homes, The Agency for Persons with Disabilities, Vocational Rehabilitation and Brevard Public Schools. Each partner had a role in making the program a success in Brevard during this first year of operation.

Holmes Regional and Mercedes Homes provided the work site rotations so the student participants could gain valuable knowledge and experience, Brevard Public Schools, Vocational Rehabilitation, and The Agency for Persons with Disabilities provided training and support for the businesses involved or the student participants. The Brevard Leadership Network brought all the players together and helps to coordinate the program.

The students are 18 to 21 years of age who have disabilities and are in the last year of high school. They also have a goal for eventual employment. They participate in the one-year program which includes three to four worksite training rotations at a business host site such as Holmes Regional Medical Center and Mercedes Homes, with each lasting approximately nine weeks long. The training they receive is geared toward job functions that are complex and systematic such as office skills, organizing and conducting inventory on supplies, and sterilizing surgical instruments.

“Supporters of the program say it has the potential to save taxpayers dollars in assistance payments that often go to the disabled. And, more importantly, it provides a segment of society – a segment often overlooked – with a shot at a meaningful career” (excerpted from an article in FLORIDA TODAY, written by Wayne T. Price).

Less than one year into the program, Project Search has trained 27 students and provided employability skills training to 30 participants. So far, 13 have received employment through the program.

Twenty-one year old Denise Weeks was hired by Health First as a surgical sterilization technician as a result of her participation in the Project SEARCH program.