Each year, several young adults graduate from the Project SEARCH program at Ascension NE Wisconsin - Mercy and St. Elizabeth Campuses.
Project SEARCH empowers students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to achieve competitive employment and helpsthem transition from school to the workforce through structured, real-world experiences. An instructor and job coach work with the interns and participating businesses to provide on-the-job training. The program’s goal is to eliminate barriers to employment.
“As one of the first Project SEARCH sites in Wisconsin, Ascension St. Elizabeth has been a host site for the past 12 years,” said Renee Trzebiatowski, Ascension St. Elizabeth Manager of Volunteer Services and Project SEARCH Business Liaison. “We offer a structured workplace in a compassionate environment as they work to develop valuable skills, helping them gain employment upon graduation. The interns are so deserving of employment and a happy, fulfilling life in our community. We are grateful to be a part of making this happen.”
At both Ascension Mercy and Ascension St. Elizabeth, interns receive classroom instruction on employability and life skills as they work together to learn how to perform internship tasks independently.
“I learned a lot about teamwork and how to communicate with other people,” Project SEARCH intern Cherish Moua said. “It’s helped me understand how I can assist people staying in the hospital.”
Since 2016, Ascension Mercy has hosted and trained 90 interns, while St. Elizabeth has welcomed and trained 92 interns since 2013. Rotations at both hospitals last approximately 10 weeks at 16 hours per week, and expose students to a variety of roles across several departments including maintenance, patient transport, dietary, nursing, food service, and environmental services, with many interns going on to be hired in these areas after graduation.
Project SEARCH is a collaboration between community businesses and agencies including Goodwill NCW, the Oshkosh Area School District, TMG Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) at Ascension Mercy. Ascension St. Elizabeth works in collaboration with the Appleton Area School District (Appleton East, North and West High Schools), Valley Packaging Industries, TMG Wisconsin, Community Care, Lakeland Care and the DWD.
