Annual community report
Project SEARCH North Iowa Celebrates 10 Years
T
he year is 2011, Katy Perry is blaring from every pop radio station and Jake Own’s Barefoot Blue Jean Night is on the country stations. TV shows like Big Bang Theory and Modern Family are just getting their feet under them. And North Iowa Vocational Center was starting a new program: Project SEARCH North Iowa. It was such a groundbreaking program for North Iowa that The Globe Gazette featured the program's start on September 19th, 2011. Six North Iowans participating in a series of three unpaid internships at Mercy through Project Search, a program which helps young people with intellectual and developmental disabilities transition from
high school to entry-level positions in the work force. Ten years and one merger later, 43 North Iowa continues to operate Project SEARCH North Iowa in conjunction with MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center and Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services. 102 Students have participated in the program replicating the program’s national employment rate successes. Sherry Becker was right; the students participating in Project SEARCH have impacted our community well after completing their internships. The students who have participated in this program have received valuable training and walked away knowing they belonged in the
workforce. The national employment rate for people with disabilities is 35% but over 70% for Project SEARCH internship participants. This year’s class returns to capacity after a year affected by Covid. The program has grown and evolved over the ten years, but the mission remains the same; help students learn skills to be in the work force. Amber Kratz, Transition Lead for 43 North Iowa and service coordinator for the program, stated, “This program serves as a valuable stepping-stone as students transition from being in school to building independence and responsibility in a real-world CONTINUED ON PAGE 2