Like many students in their final year of high school, Miah Holguin from Montwood High School was eager to find a job.
Thanks to the job skills training and networking abilities she developed as an intern through Project SEARCH, Holguin felt confident she could impress potential employers at the fifth annual Coffee Connections event in February.
“I'm looking forward to something that has clerical work,” Holguin said. "I think it's a good experience because I should be getting to meet the employers and learn about their jobs, like what they do.”
Project SEARCH is an international program that prepares adult students with special needs for competitive and integrated employment.
Since 2019, the Socorro Independent School District has collaborated with the Hospitals of Providence East Campus on Project SEARCH to provide students with yearlong internships. Interns acquire competitive, marketable and transferable skills that can be applied to jobs beyond the hospital setting. They also gain valuable life skills such as independence, confidence, self-esteem and maturity.
For the past year, Holguin has been interning in the hospital's Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU). She said that the internship has not only prepared her for a job but also allowed her to help people, which she enjoys.
“It means a lot to me because I love how I get to experience new things, and it's given me like an opportunity to find jobs to work at, and I got to experience how stuff is in this program, like how they do this program,” Holguin said.
Coffee Connections is one of several events hosted by Project SEARCH and Workforce Solutions BorderPlex to help participants secure competitive jobs. At the event, Holguin and six other Project SEARCH interns showcased their skills, confidence and resumes while networking with potential employers, including the Hotel Paso Del Norte.
Victoria Gomez, human resources director for the Hotel Paso Del Norte, said that they previously hired two Project SEARCH interns, and their performance was “absolutely wonderful.” The hotel plans to hire more interns from the program.
“They've been such great employees and have transitioned into our workforce so easily. And the impact that they have brought to our hotel has been so positive and just widespread throughout the entire hotel,” Gomez said. “And it was really important for us as an employer to diversify the demographic of who we're hiring.”
Monica Gasca, SISD Project SEARCH instructor, said that the program has been very successful in helping interns find jobs, exceeding the national average of 23%. In some years, the program has helped 100% of its interns secure employment, which can be a powerful moment for both the interns and their families.
“This is a life-changing opportunity, not only for them but for their families as well. It's the greatest gift that they can give to their parents to see their child gain employment, to be independent, to be self-sufficient, so that if anything ever happens to them, they have that assurance that they can take care of themselves,” Gasca said.
In addition to offering hands-on training, the Hospitals of Providence also provided the interns with mentors, such as Celina Azar, network director for volunteer services at the Hospitals of Providence.
Azar said she observed significant growth in the interns throughout the program. Their progress was so impressive that the hospital hired two of the interns to work there this year.
“The reason we hired them is because they're amazing, because they do good,” Azar said. "They're excellent workers. They do what they're told, they learn their tasks, they're on time all the time. They're just great employees.”