HAMPTON, Va. — Sentara CarePlex Hospital in Hampton is preparing to graduate the hospital's latest group of Project SEARCH interns. The program provides job training for people in Hampton 18-21 years old who graduated high school in Hampton and have developmental disabilities.
Ashby Birchette and Joseph Singleton are two of those interns.
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“I had watched some films at home on my computer to see how it really was and I was really excited to come here," Birchette said.
“My teacher was talking about it and I was, like, ‘I don’t know if I want to do it.’ But then someone told me and I just went ahead and did it," said Singleton.
Birchette does things like collect empty boxes to take to a recycle dumpster and makes deliveries around the hospital. Singleton works in the imaging department helping check people in and delivering images to doctors among other things.
Birchette, Singleton, and the rest of the group of interns will graduate from the one-year program June 10.
Steven Bond is the business liaison for Project SEARCH at Sentara CarePlex Hospital. He said the program is important for more than just the interns.
“Growing the future for any business is very essential to the longevity of how a business operates. For healthcare, it’s something that’s not really going anywhere in society," Bond explained. "We’re going to have healthcare as long as anyone is on this earth. So being able to have students get an interest or find something close to that is probably better for everyone, not just this company.”
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Project SEARCH is a national program.
Sentara has Project SEARCH interns working at multiple hospitals.
Interns don’t just work in hospitals, though. On June 4, News 3 was at Naval Air Station Oceana as eight interns graduated from working with the Navy.
“We love doing that here at Oceana. It’s a great program," NAS Oceana Commanding Officer Capt. Josh Appezzato said.
Watch: Project SEARCH interns graduate at NAS Oceana
Back at Sentara CarePlex Hospital, Birchette and Singleton said they are happy they went through the program.
“It helped me with interview questions. It basically helped me do much for a job," said Singleton.
“Versus going to high school and just graduating, it has done so much more," Birchette said.
