Tabor partners with Project SEARCH

An new program providing work internships for young adults with disabilities has found a home at Tabor College.

Marion County Special Education Cooperative received funding last fall to bring the Ohio-based Project SEARCH program to the county, but needed to find an employer partner to provide work experience as participants receive job skills training. Tabor agreed to be that site last week.

“I am thrilled that Tabor College has this opportunity,” said President Jules Glanzer. “Providing internships for those who have disabilities, helping them adjust to the real world and increasing their ability to contribute to society in meaningful ways, is an honor for us.”

Glanzer said Project SEARCH aligns with Tabor’s mission to prepare people for a life of learning, work, and service for Christ and his kingdom.

“Project SEARCH is a natural fit,” Glanzer said. “I can’t think of a more appropriate partnership.”

Project SEARCH chairperson Laura Baldwin also said the environment and opportunities Tabor could provide for students was natural fit.

“The more we learned about the people at Tabor and the opportunities for young people with disabilities in Marion County, we knew it was the right choice for this initiative,” Baldwin said.

Daneen Landis, coordinator of career services and academic support coordinator at Tabor, will serve as business liaison to place project SEARCH enrollees in campus work positions.

“The community at Tabor makes it a wonderful place to work,” Landis said. “Our faculty and staff take so much care to learn about students’ lives in and out of the classroom. They make an extra effort to show support.”

The program will officially open in August at the start of the new school year.

Project SEARCH launched in 1996 in Cincinnati and has grown to more than 300 work sites across the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia.