As Beth Nietzel shuffles through the files on the table, she stops briefly to say “Hi” to a visitor, then quickly returns to the task at hand.
It’s Nietzel’s first rotation as an office assistant at the Munroe-Meyer Institute as part of the UNMC/Nebraska Medicine Project SEARCH, and her attention to detail and focus on her job is her top priority.
“I like what I’m doing. I was looking for a job before I came here,” Nietzel says during a break. She especially likes the many new friends she has made in the short time she has been at MMI, including Pat Dunlap, her worksite skills trainer (a.k.a. job coach).
“He’s the best job coach to train me,” she says.
Nietzel is one of 14 participants, ranging in age from 20 to 40, taking part in the program this year.
“We provide long-term support for participants and stay in touch with them and their employer,” said Tara Harper, transition and employment services manager who oversees Project SEARCH.
Harper said she has seen students like Nietzel grow more confident in their abilities and develop new friendships.
“Project SEARCH gives them unique work experience opportunities they might not normally get the chance to take part in,” she said.
Those work experiences have included the opportunity to work in the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders as well as an administrative assistant in an office setting like Nietzel’s.
After starting her day helping file paperwork, Nietzel will spend the afternoon working on her typing skills under Dunlap’s tutelage, before regrouping with the other 13 participants at the end of the day to reflect on the day’s work.
She’ll return the next day just as eager to learn more about her new job at a place that’s been a part of her life since she was 5 years old.
This time though, she won’t just be visiting MMI as a client, but giving back and learning new skills as an employee.
“I like it,” Nietzel says smiling.