SIDNEY — In honor of National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, Edison State Community College is shedding light on the partnership that has recently been formed with Capabilities Inc. to provide internship opportunities and career exploration for individuals with developmental disabilities.

Through this partnership, Edison State has hosted Tony Muhlenkamp of Russia, in Student Affairs, Valerie Leanza, of Troy, in Environmental Services, and Denise Dalton, of West Milton, in the library and Student Affairs. Four days a week, Muhlenkamp, Leanza, and Dalton contribute to the operations of the college and in doing so are given the opportunity to learn, develop, and enhance valuable job skills in a real-world setting.

In 2007, the governor of Ohio launched the Employment First initiative that encourages every agency, school, organization and individual within Ohio’s developmental disabilities system to focus on what can be done to provide the best support and service to enable people to choose and succeed in community employment. Conversations of this particular initiative started with the Darke County Board of Developmental Disabilities.

“We knew we needed to take a team approach to this initiative and we are thrilled to have Edison State as part of our larger team,” said Justin Blumhorst, chief operating officer of Capabilities Inc. “The intern placements strive to replicate actual job needs and intern strengths. Ultimately, the goal is for these interns to be hired because it makes sense and they are a great fit for a certain job and they’re not just being hired for the sake of being hired.”

In 2015, Capabilities Inc. assisted 489 people with disabilities to secure their own, individualized employment. Of those people, 38 were Darke County residents, 50 were Miami County residents, 28 were Shelby County residents and 93 were Montgomery County residents.

Capabilities Inc. is headquartered in St. Marys.