Project Search - Mercy Health/St. Rita's Medical Center

10/12/2026

10/08/2026

Working the Putnam County Transition Fair event. Brought MaKenzie Taylor to help out!!

09/11/2026

The internship reveal has been done!

We did a game show to introduce where they are going.

09/09/2026

Fun morning with a visit from Crystal Pyles from Apollo Career Center followed up with a walk down the street to Mercy Tots where we met the staff, Aimee Kuhlman, and toured the facility and ending the morning before lunch with a quick orientation with Aimee covering Mercy Health - St. Rita's Medical Center policies and student expectations.

Tuesday, we had guest speakers from Allen County Board of Developmental Disabilities; Anne Dunbar and Tammy Smith who shared valuable information regarding services through the board and they helped with a discussion.

We practiced putting on PPE and why/ how to use it, putting it on and removing it safely.

Excited for Friday's internship reveal day. The interns will find out where they will be heading for their first internship!

09/01/2026

This alumni is on fire!! Way to go MaKenzie Taylor MaKenzie's Journey

The August Employee of the Month is MaKenzie! MaKenzie was featured back in May for the Project SEARCH graduation and is now being honored for her incredible work at Mercy Health/HHS. She has continued working on her communication skills and has taken on more job tasks in the past few months, which led her to be recognized as her department's employee of the month!

MaKenzie's favorite part about her job is seeing the behind the scenes of the hospital. Having spent a great deal of time in hospitals as a patient, she admits she had no idea how a linens department worked. For instance, she now understands why it may take some time to receive a blanket after requesting one and this understanding has been a part of her continued growth. MaKenzie's supervisor, Matt, shared what he admires most about Makenzie is how quickly she's advanced in her job since she's started using her voice. Since then, she continues to grow and take on new responsibilities. Originally hired in linens, MaKenzie has now picked up roles in the housekeeping department. MaKenzie is proof that you can succeed at anything you put your mind to.

Congratulations, MaKenzie, and keep up the great work!

08/28/2026

The last two days have been nothing short of exciting, getting to know the new interns and finding out more about each of them.

A few of the many fun activities we do during orientation are building spaghetti towers, stacking cups with teammates, and the most fun is when we do skits with professional and unprofessional behaviors in the workplace. This year, we found we have many award-winning actors who made the skits extra fun!

The best ones were the "fall" from Justin and the "bathroom" with Emmet and Alexis! We can't forget Alex's amazing typing skills and Justin's ripped pants.

Enjoy... Excited for next week and what we will get into!

08/20/2026

Getting so close to day 1!! Students gathering to go over the handbook, answering any questions, turning in paperwork and getting to know each other! Oh and getting their uniforms!!

Everyone is getting so excited!!

New interns, enjoy your last week! See you next Thursday

08/19/2026

A reunion of super people, missing one and added a former student turned skills trainer!! Dinner with the best people you'll ever meet. Project SEARCH 14th year staff.
Left to right: Justin Clinger, Chloe Nance, Alexis Griffin and Ms. Leigh Torbert Taylor. MISSING Raya Jones

New Students start August 27th!!! Getting everything ready for them.

Mandatory meeting Thursday, August 20th at Mercy Health - St. Rita's Medical Center at noon in the resource library. Uniform and badges will be distributed.

05/30/2026

We had to have a get together.... nice to see everyone who came to dinner! Thank you Texas Roadhouse for your putting the group of 26 together!!

Miss all of you.