"I love it:" Project SEARCH connects those with disabilities with internships that can lead to permanent work



MILWAUKEE -- Project SEARCH is a partnership with Eastern Seals of Southeastern Wisconsin. Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin currently has 12 interns working through the program -- and FOX6 caught up with a Project SEARCH intern we first introduced you to last summer.

It takes roughly 50 people to keep the inpatient pharmacy at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin running.

Among them is Viktor Kreider.

FOX6 News first introduced you to Kreider in June of 2016, when he was an intern. He's now a pharmacy assistant.

"Great that I got hired at the hospital," said Kreider.

Kreider said he feels proud to be following in his family's footsteps.

"I love it, because it's an awesome place to be and my grandpa worked in hospital, and my mom worked in a hospital, and all my family worked in a hospital," said Kreider.



Kreider has excelled at his work. He now helps train other interns.

"I love to train them, so they know to do the right thing and not the wrong thing," said Kreider.

When FOX6 News caught up with Kreider on Tuesday, January 17th, he was training Kelly Weyer.

"He's a lot of fun to work with and a lot more fun communicating with other people, and Viktor," said Weyer.

Kreider and Weyer are part of Project SEARCH -- a business-led internship program meant to help people who have disabilities find work.

"We focus more on their abilities and we really look past their disabilities. We find what they're good at and we find jobs that fit into that," said Noah Franz, pharmacy operations manager.

Project SEARCH Eastern Seals Southeast Wisconsin has an 80 percent success rate when it comes to placing their interns. And Kreider's fit in quite seamlessly.

"They're built into our model now that I don't know if we can go without them," said Franz.



Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin has the only Project SEARCH program in the state solely focused on working with adults ages 25 to 35 who had been out of school for some time and unable to find steady, productive employment.

They will host a Project SEARCH open house on Thursday, January 26th from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.