Search, Inc., recently joined ComEd’s President and CEO, Anne Pramaggiore, along with many local and State leaders to celebrate the 5th Birthday of the ComEd Energy Force Program.  Many of you already know that Illinois is now an “Employment First State.”  That means that if you are an adult with a developmental disability in Illinois, and you want to work, then the first goal of any state-funded agency who provides you with services, should be to focus on helping you achieve employment. So, when Search was awarded a spot in the ComEd Energy Force Program, the No Boundaries staff asked, “How can we make the best use of this opportunity to help our Energy Force Ambassadors build the skills they need for the 21st Century workplace?”

They decided that the answer was to develop a training program through which Search Ambassadors learn new skills and use those skills to manage their participation in the Energy Force Program. Things like “creating and sending appropriate emails to find venues where they can share ComEd energy saving information.” And “mastering online calendars for scheduling their 12 annual ComEd events.”  Or “using spreadsheets to manage their Energy Force supplies inventory.”  Search’s Ambassadors work on these skills at No Boundaries each week, and what they are learning is becoming invaluable to Search’s successful participation in the program and their preparation for the workplace.

Happily, Search has shared the curriculum for the training program with all 14 of its fellow agencies, including Special Olympics, Misericordia, Easter Seals and Clearbrook, who are part of the ComEd program, and is excited to have a chance to build collaborative relationships together.  Happy Birthday Energy Force!