Community Integrated Services

06/22/2026

Moustaid, Sellers-Genrette, Shuptar, Heep…we’ve got quite a line-up of CIS stars at Philadelphia Stadium for the World Cup games, and that’s only part of the squad!

The Person of the Match has to go to Amira, a longtime employee at the stadium complex, where she works games and events across all three venues. She’s been amazing during Philadelphia’s first couple World Cup games, helping fans find their seats and pointing them in the direction of concessions, restrooms, and, of course, the gift shop.

With the world’s best soccer players putting on a great show on the field, Amira and her CIS support team have been holding it down in the stands, and we want to give a big shoutout to each of them and to the CIS staff behind the scenes whose seamless teamwork helps Amira to thrive in her position at the stadiums.

Cheers, as the British say, to a great start to the World Cup, everyone—we can’t wait for the games to come.

06/19/2026

Todays marks an important day of national remembrance, as people in our region and around the country attend events to honor Juneteenth.

Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States, and in June 2021 was officially designated a national holiday by former President Joe Biden.

It is named for the day in 1865 that Union troops finally arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, and announced that all enslaved people in the state were now free by executive decree, over two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued.

There will be Juneteenth celebrations and events throughout Philadelphia and Delaware today and through the weekend (check your local news sources!), and we hope you have a meaningful remembrance and celebration.

[image shows a street in West Philadelphia lined with booths and filled with pedestrians, photo courtesy of Johnson House Historic Site

06/15/2026

Hit that like button for Russell in Delaware, who last week celebrated his 7th anniversary at TidalHealth!

Russell’s story is a great example of the great things that can happen when people with disabilities are given opportunities and support: he got his start at TidalHealth as a high school student participating in one of our Project SEARCH programs, where he was placed there as an intern. Russell so impressed his colleagues and managers that he was offered a job there at the end of his internship period.

Seven years later, Russell is now a key member of the Distribution Department, responsible for scanning orders for different departments and delivering medical supplies.

“Russell is vital to the hospital and the patients they care for,” said Kelsey Hitchens, Manager of Employment Training at CIS. “He’s a very dedicated and reliable employee who keeps his coworkers laughing even when their work can get stressful.”

Russell’s success is a testament to his hard work, and it speaks to the great things jobseekers with a disability can achieve when given the opportunity.

“I have worked with Russell for about 7 years now and have enjoyed seeing his growth and all his accomplishments,” added Hitchens.

A big thank you to CIS’s Kelsey Hitchens and Holly Drumheiser for the pictures of Russell, and to all our staff who provide such great support to him at TidalHealth. Congratulations on 7 great years, Russell—we’re so proud of all you continue to achieve!

For more on how CIS works for people with disabilities, head to cisworks.org!

06/12/2026

Please join us in extending the biggest, warmest, most enthusiastic of congratulations to our own Susan Schonfeld, Executive Director at CIS, who was presented last week with a Lifetime Leadership Award from our partners at Project SEARCH and Project Career Launch.

“Susan’s leadership has transformed opportunities for people with disabilities across our region,” said Dianne Malley, Director of Community Impact at Transition Pathways of the AJ Drexel Autism Institute. “She has enriched the lives of thousands of individuals and families through her unwavering commitment to employment for all.”

This award honors the truly monumental impact of Susan’s leadership of Philadelphia’s nationally recognized SEARCH and Career Launch programs. Under Susan’s guiding hand, what began as a lone Project SEARCH program that sought to build a bridge for students with disabilities to sustaining employment has blossomed, in the last decade, to six distinct SEARCH and Career Launch cohorts. Each year these programs propel youth with disabilities throughout Philadelphia into meaningful jobs in the very communities in which they live.

“Susan has a remarkable ability to see opportunities where others see obstacles,” said Malley. “She sees what is possible in every situation, and perhaps more importantly, she sees the potential in every person.”

It’s hard to do justice to the scale and scope of Susan’s impact. Hundreds of youth with disabilities have found employment as a result of the SEARCH and Career Launch programs. And as Malley alluded to in her speech, Susan’s leadership of CIS has aided more than 2,000 people each year—for over 35 years—on their path to employment.

While the numbers are astonishing, the real impact is in the lives of the people that the numbers represent: each person who has been aided by these programs or by supported employment through CIS has attained a job or a lifeline to critical services, and all have experienced the profound comfort of having a team behind them that believes in their goals and helps them achieve them.

As Malley said of Susan’s impact, “This is one of the hardest introductions I've ever had to write—not because I don't know what to say, but because there is simply too much to say.”

Congratulations, Susan, on this deeply well-earned recognition--from all of us at CIS, from our project partners, and from all those whose lives you've touched.

06/11/2026

Congratulations to the 10 outstanding graduates of this year’s Project SEARCH 440 cohort, who were celebrated last week at a beautiful ceremony at The School District of Philadelphia headquarters on north Broad Street!

Project SEARCH programs give high schoolers with disabilities real-world work experience and classroom-based instruction to help them find employment success once they leave school.

Throughout the year, these 10 students engaged in a series of internships ranging from District offices including the I.T., Grants, and Maintenance, to positions with a variety of local businesses and nonprofits.

Along the way, program participants transformed from fellow students to dear friends, all the while building the skills and confidence that will help them thrive in the careers that await them.

We are so proud of this year’s graduates, who received their Certificates of Completion amidst a crowd of family, friends, and program staff. We are so thankful to staff members of Project SEARCH 440 and our partners at the District and Autism Life Course Outcomes Research at the AJ Drexel Autism Institute, whose hard work and support have helped these students envision and attain wider horizons for their futures.

Enormous thanks to CIS's Paul Barth, Manager of Student Programs, for sharing these fantastic pictures from the event--they provide a moving glimpse into the culmination of a very special year in the lives of all involved.

06/10/2026

We had a blast last week at University Career Center's Neighborhood Job Fair!

Now in its 19th year, the neighborhood job fair is the largest in the city, and brought out over 1,000 jobseekers to the beautiful Temple University campus to meet with local employers.

CIS was there with bells on, and our own James Reeves (pictured here at the CIS table) had the chance to meet with tons of prospective employees and share about the ins and outs of jobs at CIS.

CIS is hiring for a range of positions and offers a great set of benefits, a flexible schedule, and the chance to join a mission-driven nonprofit making a big impact in Philadelphia and beyond.

Explore your next career at cisworks.org/cis-careers, and help us spread the word about the great range of positions available at CIS!

06/09/2026

For a moving look into what our work is all about, check out this end-of-year video celebrating the seven graduates of our Project SEARCH at Aramark program!

Throughout the last year, these hardworking students gained valuable job skills and important work experience through hands-on internships at Aramark headquarters. From internships in food service and office administration to operating point-of-sale systems in retail environments, this year's graduates are equipped to step into a variety of jobs and careers, and they made a lot of great friends along the way.

A big thank you to Paul Barth, CIS's Manager of Student Programs, for putting together this wonderful video. It captures the work of these students throughout the year, and the community they formed while doing it.

We're immensely grateful to our program partners at the AJ Drexel Autism Institute and Autism Life Course Outcomes Research's Transition Pathways program and to all the program staff, whose hard work and leadership make this program what it is.

Congrats to all the graduates--we can't wait to see what they go on to achieve!

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06/05/2026

Congratulations to the outstanding graduates of this year’s Drexel-based Project SEARCH and Project Career Launch cohorts, who were celebrated on Wednesday a beautiful ceremony on Drexel University campus.

Run in partnership with the AJ Drexel Autism Institute, our SEARCH and PCL programs give high schoolers with autism and other disabilities real-world work experience and a range of skills to help them find employment success once they leave school.

This year’s Drexel cohorts were the largest to date, with 30 students receiving their Certificates of Completion. The big numbers reflect this year’s addition to the program of students from The South Philadelphia High School, its first year as part of Project SEARCH.

The event celebrated the graduating students and the many staff and program partners who make these programs so successful, with awards and recognitions going tothe School District of Philadelphia, PA CareerLink Philadelphia, Women's Connection Philadelphia Chapter, CO-OP Restaurant & Bar, Philadelphia Works, Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services, Drexel University Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships, and SDP's Office of Information Technology.

Those individuals and entities provided internships to students and supported them in myriad ways all year long, leaving them fully equipped to thrive in their future careers. As Jackie Abrams, Associate Director of the Transition Pathways program, said, "This year’s group will be the success stories of the future.”

There was one more recognition given out that is particularly meaningful to all of us here at CIS, so stay tuned to our page for more on that soon. In the meantime, congrats to all the students who took the stage on Wednesday, and please enjoy these pictures from the ceremony!

06/04/2026

What an honor to be joined by First Lady of Pennsylvania Lori Shapiro (Office of the First Lady of Pennsylvania) and PA Department of Labor & Industry Secretary Nancy A. Walker at an event on Tuesday recognizing the School District of Philadelphia as an outstanding partner in the PA InVEST project, which is opening new doors to employment for people with disabilities across the Commonwealth.

CIS—in partnership with KenCrest and the AJ Drexel Autism Institute—has played an integral role in the project, bringing on The School District of Philadelphia as an employer-partner committed to providing fully integrated employment for jobseekers with a disability.

The District’s partnership has been unparalleled: since September 2025, it has hired 14 individuals—all of whom are former District students—and placed them in a range of roles matched to their skills, from Administrative Support and Food Service positions to Educational Assistants in District classrooms.

CIS Assistant Executive Director Julia Blackwell spoke at the event. Standing alongside First Lady Shapiro, Secretary Walker, and Dianne Malley, head of Drexel's Transition Pathways program, Blackwell lauded the District for its extraordinary work: “These are not just jobs,” she said. “These are meaningful career pathways located in everyone’s communities in Philadelphia, right where they live.”

We are very grateful to First Lady Shapiro, Secretary Walker, and to Governor Shapiro (Office of the Governor of Pennsylvania), whose proposed 2026-27 budget calls for increasing state funding by $1 million for OVR to expand services and support more Pennsylvanians with disabilities.

Please enjoy the photos included below, and head to https://pacast.com/m?p=29485 to check out the full video from the press conference.

05/29/2026

We are thrilled to share further news about our forthcoming affiliation with Inglis, one of our region's leaders in providing a holistic range of disability services.

By bringing together our areas of expertise, CIS will be able to connect participants to an even broader range of supportive services while continuing to provide the same caring, individualized employment services that we've become known for.

Learn more about our exciting affiliation at the link. As CIS Executive Director Susan Schonfeld shared, "By joining forces with Inglis, we can expand our impact beyond employment alone—connecting individuals to a broader network of supports that promote independence, stability, and success both on and off the job.”

For nearly 150 years, Inglis has believed that people with disabilities deserve every opportunity to live independently, pursue their goals, and fully participate in their...