Kelli Kobbs job coaching Chad at Willamette Valley Medical Center.

Food, filth, or flowers.

It’s a saying within the industry of supporting individuals who experience a disability. It refers to the notion that someone who experiences a disability can only get a job in one of those three industries.They either serve food, clean up filth, do yard work, or often, nothing at all.

This perception is something that we struggle with every day. Every time we walk into a business, submit a job application, or cold call an employer, we do so with this preconceived notion of what someone is capable of. It can be an uphill battle with some employers, and we are constantly looking for new tools to dispel this belief.

This is why we are excited to announce that MV Advancements is partnering with Friendsview Senior Living Community to bring Project SEARCH, the nationally acclaimed nine-month internship program, to Yamhill County.

Project SEARCH provides employability training for individuals who experience intellectual and developmental disabilities by fully immersing them within a host business. Interns learn job skills while working within three of the eight departments of Friendsview and in classroom-like settings from a certified skills trainer.

Originally developed at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in 1996, Project SEARCH is a nationwide program that has helped thousands of adults with disabilities achieve their employment goals. Those who graduate from the program earn higher wages and retain employment for longer on average.

Think of Project SEARCH as a secondary school. Interns work different jobs and hone their skills to eventually use in the pursuit of a career. At Friendsview, interns will have the opportunity to learn job skills in departments like community events, health services, administration, and maintenance. This will open the door for interns to pursue careers that MVA wouldn’t normally be able to train them for.

“We have a gap within MVA’s services,” Ed Wanner, Director of Employment Services, said. “That gap is the ability to provide training in a variety of skills. If someone wants to have a career in an automobile shop, we can’t train them in that. With this program and partnership with Friendsview, we potentially could.”

The idea of an external training environment that we could provide for job seekers has been a long-time dream of MVA’s employment team. The original intention for Serendipity Ice Cream was to fill that gap with customer service skills. Now with Friendsview on our team, we can fill that gap in many, many more fields.

Filling the gap in trainable skills will allow the individuals we support to choose careers that they have a vested interest in. This is what Kelli Kobbs, Employment Consultant with MVA and future Project SEARCH Supervisor, is looking forward to.

“I am most excited to see the results,” Kobbs said. “To see the interns graduate from the program and find a position they are truly excited about.”

In other words, individuals who graduate from Project SEARCH will not be restricted to food, filth,or flowers. They can choose their own path and show what they are truly capable of.

That is what filling the gap is all about.

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There will be an Open House on September 26 th , 2023, at 6:30 p.m. at Friendsview, 1301 Fulton Street, Newberg, OR. Please join us to show your support and learn more about the future of Project SEARCH in Yamhill County.

Project SEARCH is launching in January 2024. To inquire about available placements for Project SEARCH, please email Kelli Kobbs at [email protected] or visit us at our website, https://mvadvancements.org/services/

To read more about this exciting program, please visit projectsearch.us