I am trying to find research opportunities in my area. I am not sure were to look for these opportunities. When I googled it the only thing that showed up were summer programs. I called all the local colleges and they said that they don’t have any unless one is enrolled there as a full time student. I am perplexed on how to find these opportunities. If anyone could share knowledge on this subject, I would greatly appreciate it.
You need to do more homework. You’ve been expecting the person who answers the phone when you call colleges to find you something. You’re not their student and that’s not their job.
You need to investigate what kind of research is being done at these places (is there really more than one local school where you could realistically travel to during the school year to conduct research with your busy school schedule and do you have reliable transportation?) and identify professors you would be interested in working with. Then contact them. The more you know about their subject and the better you impress them as being reliable, mature, and hard working, the better your chances. But keep in mind that they have zero obligation to you, that you are going to drain more of their time than you realize while being far less useful to them than you imagine. So you’ll probably find little interest in taking you on, but maybe you will get lucky.