Project SEARCH is a workforce alternative that partners with organizations to empower individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism through valuable work experience. Together, these opportunities allow students to grow skills and experience on-site training in professional settings with a goal of longer-term employment.
From its beginnings at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in 1996, Project SEARCH has grown to an international network of 734 programs in 9 countries, including Canada.
Health Sciences Centre is a proud partner of Project SEARCH and has been providing valuable on-site training and work experience since 2016.
Project SEARCH, in partnership with SCE LifeWorks, allows HSC Winnipeg to increase employment opportunities and continue to build meaningful relationships within the community. Creating a more inclusive environment through the program enables staff to better understand those with disabilities and helps patients and visitors see themselves in the type of care and services available at HSC Winnipeg.
Project SEARCH promotes accessibility and inclusion conversations within the workplace. When a student is placed within a department, their experience may highlight physical, ideological and systemic barriers that become opportunities to identify strategies that will support student success and improve access for others.
HSC is proud to be working with Project SEARCH to increase employment opportunities, promote inclusive work environments and reduce barriers to employment.
Welcome a Project SEARCH student to your team
Interested in the rewarding benefits of creating opportunities for students with intellectual disabilities in your department? To learn more, contact [email protected].
Discover tools and techniques to empower those with intellectual disabilities in your area and find information about how to lead, mentor and foster inclusion in the workplace with the the Project SEARCH free short course. Details are available at the Project SEARCH website.
“We’re all humans and everyone has their own strengths. Having a disability is not a big deal. If you give someone with a disability a chance and show them what to you do – you will understand them better and want to hire them.”
Jazzy, a Project SEARCH graduate and Casual Medical Device Reprocessing Aide in the MDR department at HSC Winnipeg
The first time Jazzy walked into the Medical Device Reprocessing (MDR) department at Health Sciences Centre (HSC) Winnipeg, it was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Staff were geared up in scrubs and hair nets, using different cleaning techniques to disinfect everything from scalpels and light handles to respirators and tubes. In some circumstances this kind of non-stop environment could be overwhelming for someone like Jazzy, who has an intellectual disability. Her commitment, persistence and enthusiasm helped Jazzy seize the opportunity to participate in a program called Project SEARCH, giving her the mentorship, training and skills to excel in this department.
Jazzy is a graduate of the Project SEARCH program at HSC Winnipeg – an initiative that offers individuals with diverse abilities and experience the opportunity for training and mentorship in a professional setting. Following graduation from Project SEARCH, Jazzy was hired to work as a Casual Medical Device Reprocessing Aide in the MDR department and has been there for just over a year.
“When I first saw the department, I thought it looked like a movie set! It’s really the behind the scenes of the hospital,” shares Jazzy. “At first, I wasn’t sure if it was right for me because it’s such a high level, important role, but when I met the manager and the other very kind people who work here, I thought, ‘let’s just do it!’”
“Autism can make it difficult to do things on the fly,”
Skylar, a Project SEARCH graduate and now Casual interventional radiology clerk at Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg
When Skylar walks the halls of HSC Winnipeg with his inventory cart he’s always on a mission. Bored at home after graduating from high school, Skylar enrolled in Project SEARCH, a program focused on training individuals with developmental disabilities to fill essential roles in the workforce.
“I like to keep busy – and at HSC, it’s never a dull moment,” shares Skylar who completed an internship at the hospital before graduating from the program in 2019.
In all three of Skylar’s work placements, he enjoyed inventory assessment. He had exposure to the Medical Device Reprocessing Department, Unit Supply, and Angiography, which led to being hired onto the Interventional Radiology department team. Three years later, Skylar continues to excel in his role, collecting supplies and re-stocking his unit with everything, from gloves to sutures.
“My job is to make sure the unit has everything it needs to continue operating every day,” says Skylar. “My greatest strength is keeping myself on task, stocking and getting it all done.”
Andrew Headley, a Project SEARCH intern, carries a bright orange toy fidget popper with him when he steps foot into the linens department at Health Sciences Centre. Being autistic and sensitive to sensory stimulation, it’s easy for Andrew to become distracted in a busy department like Linens. The popper provides a simple way for him to count linens at his job stress free, one of the many ways Project SEARCH enhances accessibility in the workplace.
“I pop them every time I get to five linens and then I do another five. It helps me make sure I don’t lose track of my piles, otherwise I would need to recount again,” shared Andrew who has been restocking laundry carts in the Linens Department since January.
“Small things, like the popper or a visual flow chart, can have a huge impact,” shared Meaghan Jones, teacher with Project SEARCH HSC Winnipeg. “We have tools and little problem-solving tricks to help train students both to do their work and double check it. Building confidence is very important.”
Project SEARCH is a transition program for young people who face barriers to employment, specifically for those who are autistic or who have intellectual disabilities. The program at HSC Winnipeg has an employability curriculum that involves both classroom education as well as three internship placements throughout the campus over the course of a typical school year.
Every Wednesday during Connor Giesbrecht’s Project SEARCH laboratory internship, he would test-run the emergency shower decontamination system in place to flush an individual’s body or clothes if they are exposed to a hazardous substance.
“It’s really cool. You pull down a lever and it’s not a little shower – it’s a big shower. A lot of water comes out, very fast, in case you need to get whatever you need off quickly,” explained Giesbrecht, a graduate of the Project SEARCH program.
Operating this test is a two-person task which meant each week Connor had to ask a fellow team member to help him.
“Before Project SEARCH I was a very quiet person. My experience in lab helped me open up and it was the very first stepping stone into branching out my sociability,” shared Connor.
