Project SEARCH Wilderness at the Smokies: Growing Impact, Changing Futures
Big things are happening with Project SEARCH job training program at Wilderness at the Smokies, and this year’s story is one worth celebrating!
Now in its seventh year, our job training program, which provides transformative employment training initiatives for young adults with disabilities, will be having its 50th intern graduate on May 12 as its sixth class completes from the program.
According to Jennifer Jeffers who oversees the Project SEARCH program, “Each of this year’s seven interns truly represents a story of determination, growth, and possibility, and we are so incredibly proud of all of them! And, three have decided to make Wilderness at the Smokies their permanent place of employment.”
If you’re visiting, please take a moment congratulate these interns on their accomplishments: Taliayah who works in the Deli, Raymond in Retail, Adam in Laundry and Miguel “Anthony” who can be found in Hidden Trails.
In order to meet transportation needs, Teagan has been hired at Burger King, Felipe has been hired at Texas Roadhouse, and Matthew secured employment at Food City. This is a big step toward independence and the long-term success of our program’s graduates.
This year also brought a milestone we’ve never seen before: two of our interns (who will soon be permanent employees) earned their driver’s licenses—an incredible example of growth, independence, and determination.
Our resort’s Project SEARCH job training program also continues to expand in meaningful ways. This year, we introduced a new internship site in Housekeeping at our Villas, and our interns played an active role throughout the property including helping to winterize Soaky Mountain, our sister waterpark located across the street, and transform it into Snowy Mountain for the holidays.
Although our resort currently is the only Project SEARCH program in Sevier County, on a larger scale, Project SEARCH is growing! It now has 22 programs throughout the great state of Tennessee and 796 programs worldwide. If you ask Jennifer, she will tell you the reason for the program’s success is three-pronged: dedicated workplaces, community collaborations and strong parental support from the student’s in the program.
Our resort is especially proud to see the long-term impact of our training. One of our first interns from six years ago is still employed in our Retail Department, a powerful example of sustainability and success. In fact, our Adventure Arcade and Laundry department are now filled with many of our program’s alumni, showing just how deeply this program has become part of our Wilderness family.
Jennifer adds, “The Wilderness at the Smokies continues to set the standard for this program. Their willingness to recognize the strengths in individuals and use those strengths to build a stronger team is something truly worth celebrating.”
To help move this noteworthy job training program forward, Jennifer is creating a Transition Advisory Committee made up of local business owners, Human Resource Managers, and community agencies. They will be charged with generating ideas and creative solutions help individuals in our community who could benefit from participating in this program. If you would like to be part of this team, please contact Jennifer at [email protected]
We are confident that together, our community can continue building pathways to employment, independence, and belonging—for every individual Project SEARCH serves.