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Goal

Project SEARCH is an internship program at NCH Baker Hospital for students with intellectual disabilities between the ages of 18-22. Students participate in three unpaid internships in different departments of the hospital throughout the school year. The goals of the program are for students to explore a variety of career paths, learn marketable job skills, and obtain meaningful employment either at NCH or within the community by the end of the year.  

What will be done with my students

During Project SEARCH, students will have the opportunity to work in various departments of the hospital such as Patient Transportation, Outpatient Rehabilitation, Environmental Services, Concierge, Linens, and Central Distribution. Students will learn a specific set of job skills in each department, in addition to general soft skills such as professional communication, displaying initiative, accepting constructive feedback, etc. The students are evaluated on both employability skills and citizenship skills on a daily basis.

To encourage positive work skills and continually motivate students to meet their employment goals, we have implemented a restaurant reward program. The students have the opportunity to earn a Friday afternoon trip to a local restaurant for fulfilling the requirements of their internship and achieving their evaluation goals each week. We typically visit restaurants within walking distance of the hospital (Starbucks, Tropical Smoothie Café, Dunkin Donuts, etc).  

Benefits to my students

Project SEARCH is a life changing program that gives students the opportunity to learn employability skills in a real community work setting. They work very hard on a daily basis, but are currently not receiving a paycheck due to this being an unpaid internship program. This grant will allow us to provide a consistent reward system for our students. The weekly restaurant rewards will help increase motivation as students work toward their goal of paid employment. The trips will also increase the students’ community safety skills, social skills, and money skills.  

Budget Narrative

We currently have six students in the program, and they will have the opportunity to earn a restaurant trip each Friday during the school year. We are asking for gift cards to the local restaurants around the hospital to help us reward the students. The gift cards will allow us to easily pay for the reward trips throughout the year.  

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