Project Search Sentara CarePlex

08/30/2026

Week 1 of Onboarding complete for the 2026-27 cohort! We have had a wonderful start full of friendly team building challenges, acquiring badges and navigating the hospital, get to know you activities, and onboarding trainings!

08/30/2026

We enjoyed our second Alumni Outing this weekend at SkyZone! Tyree and Nya (Class of 24-25) and Harry, Caelyn, and Mackenzie (Class of 25-26) came out to jump around and catch up🥰 Thanks to all family members and alumni that attended. See you next month for bowling!

08/03/2026

We see you Harry! We are so glad that you are finding communities and activities to have fun with! Everyone loves Michael Jackson! We know the night was a blast 😎

Let's Mingle's first Michael Jackson Night was a huge success! We❤ had SO MUCH FUN!

07/27/2026

We had our first alumni outing this weekend! Thanks to Harry (and his dad), Joseph, and Calub for coming out to Victory Landing Park for a few laps near the water to get our steps in. And a bonus trip to Chuck E Cheese to surprise our very own Chuck E Cheese Jeremiah Fitzgerald!

Put our August event to Skyzone on your calendars now!

06/27/2026

Congratulations again to our 2025-2026 cohort! You made it onto the Sentara Careplex page🎉🎉

06/21/2026

Project SEARCH Graduation 2026, we will miss you all as you move on to your next chapter in life 🥹🫂

06/17/2026

Congratulations to the Class of 2025-2026 Project SEARCH Graduates!

Hampton City Schools celebrated 10 Project S.E.A.R.C.H. graduates f...

04/02/2026

Happy Autism Acceptance Day/Month!

“Acceptance and awareness come from vastly different mindsets. Awareness seeks to highlight how Other we are and emphasizes the differences and distance between our ways of being. Acceptance looks at commonalities we share and at the strength inherent in diversity. Those who seek awareness ultimately have the goal of bridging the gap by making us more like them. They’re aware that we are the problem, and they are aware that the onus is on us to be fixed. Awareness is all about the problems and the difficulties, usually as experienced by the neurotypical majority of folks who are wanting to make everyone know. Awareness makes sure the world knows how difficult we make it for those around us.

Acceptance, though. Acceptance says “you are you, and that’s pretty awesome. I am me, and that’s pretty awesome.” Acceptance seeks to meet us where we are, or at least far closer to equitably than awareness does. Those who accept are not seeing us as projects or as charity cases. Those who accept us don’t “tolerate” us-they embrace us, differences and all. People who are aware care about us in spite of our quirks and challenges. The people who are accepting who I know care about me in part because of my quirks and challenges. They recognize that you cannot excise my difficulties and oddities without excising a large part of the whole package that is “me”.”

Check out this article about the Red instead movement: https://happilyeverautism.com/what-is-red-instead-and-why-it-matters/

And this is a good one about acceptance vs awareness: https://autisticadvocacy.org/2012/04/acceptance-vs-awareness/

by Kassiane S.I often say awareness is the No Child Left Behind of advocacy. It's a start, but no means a finishing point we should be satisfied with. It is not until people understand and acceot that we can say progress has been made. What's the difference, you ask? The…

03/31/2026

A huge thank you to Hampton City Schools, Newport News Public Schools, Argosy Electric, Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board, City of Hampton Public Works, Hampton Community Development, and Alternatives Inc, for volunteering your time and showing up for our Project SEARCH interns on their Mock Interview Day.

Your feedback, encouragement, and real-world insight gave them something no classroom can: the experience of being seen as capable, qualified candidates.

They walked in nervous and walked out with growth. That’s everything. 💙

03/10/2026

Project SEARCH was grateful to have had the opportunity to support in hosting the Hampton High school students. Our interns enjoyed assisting with the tours and sharing their knowledge of Sentara CarePlex!

Hampton High School students gain firsthand healthcare experience through job shadow at Sentara
https://www.hampton.k12.va.us/news/March26/HHSsentara.html