Family Resource Associates (FRA), which serves people of all ages who have developmental or acquired disabilities, recently made impromptu home visits to all seven of this year’s Monmouth Medical Center Project SEARCH interns to celebrate their accomplishments during the 2019-20 academic school year.
The surprise visits were facilitated by Nancy Phalanukorn, Executive Director of FRA;
Phillip Duck, Director of EmployAbility at FRA; Tyler Swiggart, Job Coach at FRA, Jessica
Hamburg, Project SEARCH Instructor at FRA, and Julia Siersema, Project SEARCH Skills
Trainer at FRA, according to a press release.
The FRA team visited the homes of Molly Hebert, Gabe Aquino, Jim Peters, Janet Wells, Kate Danish, Angel Ramos Jr. and Robert Scott.
“It was a joy to be a part of the celebration, acknowledging each intern for all their
commitment and accomplishments as they now prepare for employment in the
community,” said Phalanukorn. “Each intern grew tremendously and it gives us great
pride to have been part of that growth.”
The interns were just as excited to see the FRA team, according to the press release. During his surprise visit, Angel Ramos Jr. said, “I’m nervous and excited to see you all here … I’m really touched by it.”
Another intern’s mom expressed how the program has made a difference in her
daughter Molly’s overall growth as a person and she enjoys how she has become an
independent thinker.
Project SEARCH is a 10-month internship program for people with disabilities in their
last year of school through early adulthood. It is targeted to those whose goal is
competitive employment, according to the press release.
The program takes place at Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch, where total immersion in the workplace facilitates the teaching and learning process, as well as the acquisition of employability and marketable work skills. Interns participate in three unpaid internships to explore a variety of career paths, according to the press release.
“The goal of Project SEARCH is competitive employment for each intern using the skills they learned during the program,” said Phillip Duck, FRA’s Director of EmployAbility, which encompasses the Monmouth Medical Center Project SEARCH program. “The skills acquired through Project SEARCH can be transferred to many different workplace settings.”
To learn more about how to hire a Project SEARCH graduate, email pduck@frainc.org
To learn more about Project SEARCH, visit projectsearch.us
To learn more about FRA – PossAbilities for People with DisAbilities, visit www.frainc.org or call 732-747-5310.
