Joel Reeves inputs data at the Health Information Management office.

MOULTRIE, Ga. — Project SEARCH has granted many students from Colquitt County High School the opportunity to find their niche in the work force, students who quite possibly would have never gotten the chance to do so otherwise.

The students selected for the internship program aren’t necessarily the ones that would be picked for these jobs to begin with.

Special needs students from CCHS who meet the criteria are selected as interns. The interns go through an extensive application process and their families receive education on the process as well.

The program has been ongoing for nine years at CCHS and is led by the director of the Program for Exceptional Children, Brian Lewis, and instructor Doug Hughes.

“We target kids that would probably stand out amongst other students and wouldn’t be as successful during a standard interview to get a job,” Lewis said. “That’s where Project SEARCH comes in.”

“We’re able to transition them with senior level credits students at the high school,” Lewis said. “We conduct interviews at the high school and identify potential students that would be successful in the program.”

Colquitt Regional Medical Center is the primary job site for the program and has interns in different departments such as housekeeping, cafeteria and even at the business office.

“They work fairly independently,” Hughes said. “The key for us … if it’s a repetitive skill, we can train the student to do that job.”

The national employment average for the program is 60 percent and it has been successful in Colquitt County, according to Hughes.

The students who intern through the program are given the opportunity to be a member of society, said Hughes.

“We want to show them ‘hey, you’re not so different,’” Hughes said. “It shows them they’re part of a team and they get to find their place too.”

Hughes said the interns serve as morale boosters in the different departments they work at.

“Everyone loves them,” Hughes said. “They just keep everyone smiling.”

The program is currently searching for other job sites, but has no official ones yet.

Past interns have worked at local cleaning services, Zaxbys and the hospital.

Not only does the program help them find jobs, but the interns also receive driver’s education training through the Easter Seals organization.

Hughes said the students are excited to become self sufficient by having their own job and driver’s license.

Young adults have flourished since graduating from high school and completing their internships at the hospital, so much so that they have received full time jobs afterwards.

Alexis Burks has worked at CRMC since 2017 as a visitor control and patient access clerk.

“The program has helped me learn how to talk to people and not be afraid,” Burks said. “I love to meet new people.”

Avery Castleberry is one of the longest standing interns that went on to receive full time employment in Dietary Services at the hospital.

“It helped me out by getting a job and gaining experience,” Castleberry said.

Hospital employees value and appreciate the interns turned staff.

Supervisor of Environmental Services Mary Marshall said the employees are compassionate and dependable.

“We have some good people to work with,” Marshall said. “They set out to improve themselves … other people could actually really learn some skills from them.”

Joel Reeves, another graduate of the intern program, works in Health Information Management and said he has worked at the hospital for several years.

Hughes said they are trying to have diverse work settings for the interns and some interns have even branched out from where they first started.

Dontae Merrit has worked at the hospital for seven years and started out in Environmental Services as a floor tech. He has since then transferred to Dietary Services.

“I wanted to learn how to cook,” Merrit said. “Project SEARCH helped me learn things I would have never learned if I hadn’t been an intern.”

“An important thing to remember is that these people have real jobs now, they don’t receive special treatment because they have a disability,” Hughes said. “All they needed was for someone to give them a chance, just one chance and that’s what Project SEARCH does.”

Jim Matney, president & CEO of Colquitt Regional, is a big advocate for the program and the interns.

“People with disabilities have proven time and time again that they have the skills and competencies that we require within our organization,” Matney said. “We are proud to work with Project SEARCH and to provide opportunities to an under-represented and under-employed demographic.”