A Goodwill sign outside of one of Goodwill's Iowa City facilities. (Matt Nelson / The Gazette)

IOWA CITY — Goodwill of the Heartland will be offering paid internships for workers seeking employment, thanks to a $10,000 grant from the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation.

Iowa City-based Goodwill said the grant will assist at least 25 job seekers who are in job development programming at Goodwill in Cedar Rapids. The foundation’s Discretionary Fund is financing the project.

The workers will be paid $7.50 per hour for up to 45 hours of work at area businesses. Participating employers will have the opportunity to better understand the barriers that keep individuals with disabilities from working.

Employers also will be able to observe interns’ work abilities and soft skills, communication, enthusiasm, attitude, and teamwork, which workers need to succeed in the workplace.

For an employer to have a client participate in an internship, they must have an available position and be willing to consider hiring that individual. Assuming the job is a good match for the applicant and the employer, Goodwill staff will provide support for the employer to hire the individual after the internship is completed.

The $10,000 grant projects an overall 60 percent success rate, which will be measured by the number of people who are hired by their employers following their internships.

Goodwill of the Heartland provides vocational and other programming, including job training, transitional job experience and soft skill development. The organization, which is funded in part by 14 Goodwill stores in southeast Iowa and western Illinois, served more than 6,000 people in 2011.