{"id":247244,"date":"2026-06-04T16:19:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T20:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=247244"},"modified":"2026-06-04T18:57:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T22:57:52","slug":"11th-class-graduates-favarhs-project-search-at-uconn-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/06\/11th-class-graduates-favarhs-project-search-at-uconn-health\/","title":{"rendered":"11th Class Graduates Favarh\u2019s Project SEARCH at UConn Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

Six young adults are leaving 10-month internships at UConn Health positioned to find independent employment, graduating from Favarh\u2019s Project SEARCH, a program that provides structured work experiences for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities.<\/p>\n

Favarh\u2019s Project SEARCH held a bridge ceremony for its 11th<\/sup> graduating class at UConn Health, which was the program\u2019s first host site in 2015.<\/p>\n

\"portrait<\/a>
Cody Bucklew, who just graduated from Favarh\u2019s Project SEARCH at UConn Health, already has a job, as a clinic office assistant at in UConn Health\u2019s dermatology practice, where he completed one of his rotations as an intern. “I worked the front desk, and that was a lot of fun because I got to have some face-to-face interaction with patients, whereas my previous two internships were just behind the scenes, and I’ve really blossomed in that,\u201d he says. “I can’t wait to keep going, and I hope to stay at UConn for a very long time.\u201d (Photo by Gina Czark)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Four of the graduates already have found jobs; one of them, Cody Bucklew, was hired by the UConn Health Department of Dermatology as a clinic office assistant and reported to work immediately following Wednesday\u2019s ceremony.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the most important thing was giving me a lot of good interview experience, and I was able to ace every interview here, including my interview for dermatology,\u201d Bucklew says. \u201cAnd I\u2019m really thankful because I don\u2019t think I\u2019d get this job if I didn\u2019t go through Project SEARCH and all the growth that they have imparted on me, and everything that has come my way and everything that I\u2019ve done to help out throughout UConn Health, and I can\u2019t wait to keep giving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bucklew, of Simsbury, had a six-week rotation in the dermatology clinic as part of his internship, and also worked in the UConn Center on Aging and in dental finance. Two years ago, his family moved to Connecticut from Texas. His mother, Mindee Olm, says the Project SEARCH experience changed his trajectory.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has shifted his focus from just how to work to spend your time versus how to work toward a goal of sustaining yourself,\u201d Olm says. \u201cOur next step is to do supportive housing, so it’s looking at a long-term plan, whereas working, what he was doing before was more of a short-term kind of a plan. This is a future that he can create and forge in a community that is accommodating of those in the workforce with the disabilities that they may have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stacey Dias, of Farmington, who also worked in dermatology and in housekeeping, spoke on behalf of her class at the ceremony.<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/a>
Stacey Dias accepts her certificate for completing Favarh\u2019s Project SEARCH at UConn Health, an internship program for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities, after program manager Keegan Riley (left) announced her name at the Class of 2026 bridge ceremony June 3. Addressing attendees on behalf of her class, Dias said, “\u200aThank you to our mentors and supervisors for welcoming us into your department. Thank you for your patience, support, and encouragement. You helped us build confidence and feel like valuable team members.” (Photo by Gina Czark)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe especially want to thank all the departments and mentors for guiding us through each internship,\u201d she said. \u201cWe appreciate you taking the time to teach us, answer our questions, and show us how our jobs work. We are grateful to our mentors for sharing the advice, encouragement, and real-world guidance that will carry us into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

She noted that, in addition to the hands-on work experience, the program taught the interns essential workplace skills such as communication, time management, professionalism, teamwork, responsibility, and flexibility, and coached them on how to write professional emails and letters, prepare for interviews, and advocate for themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cProject SEARCH taught us more than just job skills, it helped us learn how to meet new people, work through challenges, and believe in ourselves,\u201d Dias said. \u201cWe are proud of how far we\u2019ve come, and we are grateful for the opportunities we were given. Thank you to everyone who played a role in our journey. We will carry what we learned here into our futures, and we are excited for what comes next.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dias found a job as a cashier at Beanz & Co., a coffee shop with locations in Avon and New Britain with a history of offering employment opportunities to adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities.<\/p>\n

Fellow Project SEARCH graduate Farren Henry, also of Farmington, also has a job at Beanz & Co. She worked in central receiving and the mailroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned to look up people\u2019s name on the computers and then deliver mail to each room in the hospital,\u201d Henry says.<\/p>\n

Aiden Willette, of Bristol, also rotated through the mailroom and central receiving, as well as the psoriasis center.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoyed coming in every day,\u201d Willette says. \u201cI\u2019m going to miss the mentors that we had, the mentors were great. I\u2019m going to miss the people. And departments know us by name. Once the first internship hits, you start to go around, meet people, they know you by name, and they\u2019ll be saying, \u2018How you doing, Aiden,\u2019 which is nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says he\u2019s just accepted a part-time job as a dining server at a KindCare, an assisted living facility in Bristol.<\/p>\n

Both Willette and Henry worked with mail handler Joshua Figueroa.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for making my experience just as good for me as it was for you,\u201d Figueroa said during the bridge ceremony. \u201cI just loved working with Aiden and Farren and teaching them to pay attention to detail, and them teaching me a little bit more about patience, and I just wanted to say thank you for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Project SEARCH was life-changing, and it\u2019s a really good experience. — Dante Bontatibus<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The 10-month program combines classroom instruction and training on best practices for finding and keeping independent employment, as well as the rotations through the work areas for hands-on experience working with mentors. A typical day starts and ends in the classroom, with the interns reporting to their work areas from 9:15 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.<\/p>\n

Dante Bontatibus, of Canton, worked in linen, housekeeping, and Morrison Healthcare, UConn Health\u2019s food and nutrition services vendor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI liked the linen department because I like to fold clothes, and it was a really good experience,\u201d Bontatibus says. \u201cProject SEARCH was life-changing, and it\u2019s a really good experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olivia Camerl, of Bristol, also worked in food and nutrition, plus dental finance, and the pharmacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was grateful that I was able to get the interview help, because I feel like I\u2019ve gotten better at it. I still have to get better at that, but it\u2019s still something that I\u2019m glad I got the experience and the help on within this program,\u201d Camerl says. \u201cI want to be able to, hopefully, gain more experiences and be able to go to higher and better things within the next couple of months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keegan Riley, Favarh Project SEARCH manager at UConn Health, says she was impressed with this year\u2019s class.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir diligence in reaching their goals and how eager they were to get through the year really, really shine,\u201d Riley says. \u201cThey came in with a certain energy, and then they finished the year with that. They\u2019ve gotten denied jobs, and now they\u2019re starting to hear back from jobs, and so they really didn\u2019t let that phase them, they just kept going.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program resumes in late August with a new class of eight interns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you’re thinking about enrolling your child, or even as someone who might already have been in the workforce before, anyone who may have a disability but are willing to work through that, I think that they will find a great place and great opportunities at Project SEARCH,\u201d Bucklew says.<\/p>\n

Favarh is based in Canton and is a chapter of the Arc, a worldwide organization that supports people with disabilities. In partnership with UConn Health Human Resources and the Connecticut Departments of Developmental Services and Rehabilitative Services, Favarh brought Project SEARCH to UConn Health in 2015. Since then, the program has a 98% success rate for interns who complete the program finding successful independent employment, working a minimum of 16 hours a week in a nonseasonal position with market wages.<\/p>\n

Today, 17 Connecticut employers are host sites.<\/p>\n

Learn more about Project SEARCH at UConn Health.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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