Meet Anthony, he is one of the Wesley Hospital’s Project SEARCH Interns who is nearing the completion of his first internship and was kind enough to share his experience with us.

Anthony is a friendly, bright and bubbly 23-year-old who in the past has struggled to find work due to his vision impairment.

“I had different opportunities in the past but they have all seemed to fall through, I heard about Project SEARCH and I thought this would give me the skills and confidence I need to enter the workforce,” Anthony said.

Project SEARCH offers internships to young adults with disabilities, program aims to develop workplace skills and to secure pathways into stable and rewarding employment.

“For the first part of the internship we did classroom learning, where we studied workplace health and safety policies, hospital procedures and how to identify risks and hazards,” Anthony said.

“From there I was assigned to work in the Day Treatment Unit which I absolutely loved, I have been a patient companion, helping to clean equipment and prepare chairs for the next patients.

“I love interacting with the patients most, I do consider myself a people person and I enjoy chatting with them, they have such interesting stories.”

Manager of the Day Treatment Unit Annelise Oosthuizen said Anthony will always be part of her team and they were very sad to see him go.

“He has been a wonderful addition to our team, we have loved having him here so much, he has learned so quickly and he is always so happy and helpful,” Annelise said.

“The impact he has had on our patients is invaluable, some people can be in here for hours and he brightens their day, we will miss him terribly.”

Anthony says he would love to work in a customer service role as he loves helping people and interacting with members of the public.

He is also a keen musician and singer and a member of the Voices of Birralee Choir, he is trained to read Braille and loves personal training.

To anyone else looking to join Project SEARCH Anthony says it’s been a wonderful opportunity and something he would encourage others to do.

For more information about Project SEARCH please visit our website, On-the-job training | UnitingCare (unitingcareqld.com.au)