KNOXVILLE — Six recent graduates of Knoxville's Project SEARCH program have secured employment, including Cara Sides, who was hired full-time in the ASU department at Parkwest Medical Center. The program, a partnership between Knox County Schools and the Sertoma Center, provides on-the-job training for people with disabilities.

"All six of our recent interns have found employment, two of them have been hired here at the hospital, and four of them out in the community," said Shannan Dean, instructor for Parkwest Medical Center's Project SEARCH Program. Since the program began in 2019, it has placed more than 40 interns in jobs.

Project SEARCH operates three internship sites: Parkwest Medical Center, Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, and Sarah Moore Greene Magnet Academy. According to AARP, 19.5% of people with disabilities in Tennessee are employed.

Dean said the program fills a gap for participants who might otherwise struggle to find work. "If they're not coming to Project SEARCH then there's a small chance that they're finding employment in the community without the supports that we provide," she said.

Sides said she expected her family to celebrate the milestone. "They might be very proud of me, including my dad, and my sisters and my step-sisters and my stepbrothers, all my cousins, all my teachers, all my friends," she said. She added, "I've been working so hard for this; they need to be happy for me."

Angie Grubb, housekeeping shift lead at Parkwest Medical Center, has worked alongside interns at the hospital site. "We watch them grow by leaps and bounds and become more confident in their skills and in themselves," Grubb said. Grubb also described the work the program does for participants. "The work that they do, to give all of them a chance to learn job skills to get a job, it's just amazing," she said.