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Then we have a program for you. Not only do you get to have a lot of fun, you will also gain professional experience in your field. It's a chance to do what you want to do. To do whatever it is you do best.
Summer Work Experience Program
For over 25 years we have operated a summer work program in which visually impaired students ages 16 to 21 come to Portland and Salem to participate in a seven week Summer Work Experience Program (SWEP).
You get to live and work with your friends, experience life away from home, learn a few things, and make some cash in the process. Your work week will consist of 30 hours spent on the job-site. The rest of the time will be learning independent living skills or participating in recreational activities. It's up to you to pick and choose.
You get to live in a dorm with your friends, as well as participate in a wide variety of recreational activities such as:
- Camping trips to Silver Creek Falls
- Challenge courses
- Hiking trips
- Team building
- Trips to various shopping malls
- Visiting the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry
Housing is provided for students who live outside the Metropolitan area. Around-the-clock supervision is provided by a dormitory counseling staff.
SWEP has been very successful in not only increasing participants' work readiness, but also their ability to find and keep employment. Follow-up studies have shown that 75% of former SWEP students were gainfully employed and very few required additional services from the agency after graduating from the SWEP program.
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SWEP Eligibility
Students must have the ability to live in a semi-independent living situation; the lack of significant work experience; the ability to benefit from a work experience program; the motivation to complete the program; and the ability to travel independently to and from the work site.
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