April 2006 Newsletter

In this Issue

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Dear Members,

In March, CTCNet hosted a group of visitors from Taiwan, representing the Institute for Information Industry and the Ministry of Education.  The Institute is managing an initiative to build 300 digital opportunity centers over some years, focusing mainly on rural areas of Taiwan.  Their interest was to learn about the CTC Network and to visit some local CTCs.

I took our guests to visit three of our Washington, DC members - Community Preservation Devt Corp., Latin American Youth Center, and ByteBack. From the time that you enter each center, the differences between each are many - from the centers' physical design and staffing structure to their educational emphasis and class schedule. But when our guests asked each of our hosts to share the one most important lesson they've learned, across the board, the lesson was the same. Each site in some way echoed the words of CTCNet's founder, Toni Stone: 

Remember that this work is about the people and not the technology.  And that the technology is a means to a greater end.

This week, CTCNet will open registration for our 15th Anniversary Conference.  Join us this summer in Washington, DC to celebrate our history, our diversity -- and the shared focus that keeps us connected.

--- Kavita Singh, Executive Director

 

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Member Spotlight

In this edition of CTCNetwork News, we highlight Applied Information Management (AIM) Institute in Omaha, Nebraska. AIM is a consortium comprised of several organizations including educational institutions, government and business entities. A CTCNet member since 2001, AIM coordinates resources among these different entities and provides leadership in information technology by offering training in 9 locations throughout Nebraska.

CTCNetwork News spoke with Nadine Baker, Manager of Community Technology Initiatives, to learn more.

How are AIM’s centers staffed?

"Our centers are staffed by individuals who are proficient in IT instruction as well as effective teaching strategies and program management. Staff come to us from various backgrounds, such as secondary education, post-secondary institutions, VISTA, business and industry. We utilize a careful screening and selection process for program coordinators and instructors. Coordinators and instructors also participate in ongoing education to improve their ability to work with students."

What is the value of AIM in the community?

"Our centers provide free training to people who lack access to technology and who are in need of transferable skills that will prepare them to enter the workforce or obtain higher level positions within their place of employment."

AIM serves hundreds of individuals across Nebraska. Can you describe some of your centers?

Locations include:

Creighton at Bryant Resource Center: "Creighton University has partnered with us to provide Introductory and Advanced IT training for individuals residing in Omaha’s near north side. 676 people completed at least one IT class through the center over a two year period. 59% of the students were women, 82% were African American. More than 60 adults completed an entrepreneurial 12-week training course, and 50% of these adults went on to open a small business."

Chicano Awareness Center: "This center is located in south Omaha, the heart of the Hispanic/Latino community. The center provides Parent Advocacy Training programs, ESL classes and Introductory IT courses. All of the students served through this site were Hispanic/Latino, 45% were women, and the majority of students were between the ages of 19-24 years."

Strong Urban Neighborhood (SUN): "This center is a refugee relocation center for Lutheran Family Service. Forty percent of the students at this center were Somali or Sudanese. Men and women are equally represented at the center, and the majority of students are between 25-59 years old."

Omaha Public Library: "Located in the heart of downtown Omaha, the library serves a cross-section of the population. Two computer labs are available – one provided through CTC funding and the other is supported by the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation. Much of the lab time is used for Open Access. Students work on various projects such as resume writing, researching information on the web and emailing friends and relatives. Monthly open access usage exceeds 2,000 individuals. Introductory IT classes in English and Spanish are also provided through the CTC labs. More than 600 students (61% being female) completed at least one IT class through this center."

Describe the need for your 9 training centers in the community.

"All of the CTC centers are located in the Omaha Enterprise Community, a 16 square mile area including the downtown Omaha business area. The 50,000 residents of the Enterprise Community are mired in the cyclical causes and effects this designation represents, including high unemployment, low educational attainment levels and a host of additional challenges and barriers. Although the Omaha Enterprise Community represents approximately 3.1% of the state’s population, it contains over 8.5% of the state’s unemployed and over 10% of the state’s impoverished. Nearly 65% of the families are low-income (defined as 150% of the poverty line), and 36.4% live below poverty. More than four times as many families live below the poverty level in the Omaha Enterprise Community as in the entire state. The unemployment rate in the target area, at 12.4%, is nearly double that of the country and four times that of the state (Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2004)."

How many individuals are served by your training centers monthly/yearly?

"Over 5000 individuals completed at least one CTC class in the past two years. At the Omaha Public Library alone, more than 2,000 individuals take advantage of the open access times each month."

If you would like for your organization to be featured in a future edition of CTCNetwork News, please email newsletter@ctcnet.org.

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CTCNet Launching New Member Management System

CTCNet is just weeks away from launching a new membership management system.  Over the next two months, CTCNet will phase in different pieces as they are ready. The system will feature a new online member directory, member-editable public profiles, online updates of contact and membership information, management of listserv subscriptions and more.

What CTCNet Members NEED to KNOW:  When the member profiles portion is launched, all current CTCNet Members will receive a user name and password by email.  When you get this, it will be very important that you update your organization's profile and staff information.  All staff at your organization that want to for example, receive the discounted conference registration rate or get announcements from CTCNet, will need to put their name into the system.

When its time, you'll receive detailed instructions to guide you through the process and we'll work to make it as easy as possible.  Our goal is to get as many members as possible, updated by the end of June so that we'll be able to share some aggregate data at the July 2006 CTCNet conference.

We are excited about offering you an improved member experience and look forward to having and sharing better information on our CTCNet Members!

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15th Annual Community Technology Conference -- July 27-29, 2006

Washington DC

Join hundreds of CTCNet members and other practitioners and experts as we celebrate our network's 15th meeting! Our 2006 conference will be held July 27-29 in Washington, DC -- with a special CTC Advocacy day on Capitol Hill on July 26th. Our revamped conference format will deliver 40+ sessions, half-day training workshops, featured panel discussions, more networking and resource-sharing events, a 15th Anniversary Reception, the annual Leadership Luncheon - and more! The Local Host Committee is also working to organize CTC site visits and trips to DC attractions.

Registration: Conference registration will open the week of April 10.   Bookmark the conference homepage for regular updates.

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Connections for Tomorrow (C4T):  The Impact

CTCNet recently completed our 3-year Connections for Tomorrow (C4T) project. From 2003-2005, C4T provided cash grants, direct technical assistance and workshops in Illinois, California and Massachusetts.  The program focused on building the capacity of CTCs that offered programming for at-risk youth and/or homeless populations.  In total, the program awarded $2,250,000 to 122 CTCs.

To learn more about the impact of the C4T initiative, visit our updated C4T site and                 download the 3-year Evaluation Summary.

"I think the program was excellent. It attempted to build a community from the grantees, and relationships have been established that have already been beneficial. We recently sponsored a conference … and included resources, speakers, and attendees who were associates through C4T.”

HOME, Inc.
2005 Grantee

 

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Member Highlights

South Carolina

The Central Carolina Community Foundation presented Fast Forward with the 2005 David W. Robinson Catalyst Award. This award honors Midland organizations who have exemplified excellence in providing resources and training for the community at-large. Located in Columbia, South Carolina, Fast Forward has served over 5,000 residents since 1999 and continually strives to educate and empower the community through the use of traditional programming.

 

Michigan

In January 2006, Bridges to Digital Excellence (BDE) accomplished an amazing milestone in only 19 months. BDE surpassed the 1,000 donated computer mark as a result of its two phase home computer program, which provides home computers to 1st through 8th graders upon completion of an 8-hour computer orientation class. “The first class of our pilot period for this project involved eight families from the Benton Harbor, Lakeshore and St. Joseph school districts,” said Doug Chapman, BDE program director. “At that time, we thought that we could reach 500 to 1,000 students over a period of two to five years. These first phases of the program have exceeded my expectations and that’s largely due to the strong support we’ve had from the community, our partners and our donors.”

Illinois

On January 23, 2006, Unique Lloyd discovered that she was one of ten winners of the “I Dream a City” essay contest as a result of the writing and computer training received from Jane Norton, Executive Director, and staff at Chicago’s Hispanic Housing Development Center (HHDC). Unique was thrilled to be chosen as a contest winner, which will allow her to travel to Washington DC’s Capitol Hill to met Senator Barack Obama in June. Unique’s essay described issues affecting her community including teen pregnancy and depression. “The staff here (at HHDC) has been very helpful and supportive. If it hadn’t been for the help I received from Jane I wouldn’t have had a good essay, or found out about the contest,” said Unique about the assistance she received from HHDC.

On February 16, 2006, members of CTCNet Chicago participated in Illinois Community Technology Day. This event made it possible for CTCNet Chicago to meet Illinois legislators as well as to continue to advocate for Digital Literacy, Access and Equity. In addition to making its presence known among Illinois legislators, CTCNet Chicago also presented an award to Representative Connie Howard for her Illinois Civic eChampion service.

Washington

On February 1, 2006, the Puget Sound Alliance for Community Technology (PSACT) in Seattle hosted a free Webinar on emergency preparedness in case of a disaster. The Webinar offered a wealth of information to all participants emphasizing cell phone and battery recharging, backing up computers, emergency communication kits, possessing business and personal email addresses and more. For more information about the webinar and to access resources, visit: http://tcfn.org/classes/Webinar/Disaster/Communications.html

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Thank You to CTC Resource Center Reviewers

CTCNet would like to thank all the CTCNet Members who volunteered to rate and review sections of our new CTC Resource Center. Volunteers reviewed resources from the Operations & Sustainability, CTC Programs, Technology, Training Curricula and Disability & Inclusion categories.

Special thanks to our Volunteers:

Join your peers by visiting the CTC Resource Center and rating, reviewing, or adding a resource to share with the network!

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Meet the Board

In this edition of CTCNetwork News, we are pleased to introduce new board member, Martin Sweeney of the Assistive Technology Project.

Background: "Founded in 1998, the Assistive Technology Project (ATP) is a family-centered resource whose mission is to identify and serve the assistive and computer technology needs of individuals with developmental disabilities and their families—especially those whose technology needs are underserved due to language, culture and class barriers. As part of the Koch-Young Family Resource Center, the ATP is a project of the Frank D. Lanterman Regional Center located in Los Angeles. The Regional Center is part of a network of private, non-profit, regional centers that contract with the California State Department of Developmental Disabilities to coordinate services for individuals with developmental disabilities. The ATP serves over 6,000 individuals and families living in Southern California and offers assistive technology consultations, workshops and computer classes in partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Division of Adult & Career Education."

Area of experience: "I didn’t pick this field, it picked me. My daughter was born with cerebral palsy at a time when computer technology was first being introduced to young children with disabilities. Born in 1983, Eva became part of the first generation of persons with disabilities who had new and exciting opportunities driven by technology. It has been a long, ongoing, sometimes frustrating and sometimes transforming experience. At some point over the years, the experience changed my life’s work, and I became an Assistive Technology Specialist. For the last eight years I have directed the Assistive Technology Project, bringing this information, expertise and opportunity to other children, adults and families. The field of Assistive Technology is a universe of hardware, software, equipment, materials, support and services. Just as with all technology, due to its dynamic nature, the tools change every single day. As a professional in the field, the work is terribly humbling, challenging and exciting — all at the same time."

Accomplishments as a CTCNet Board Member: "As a freshman board member my single accomplishment has been to carefully listen and learn about the organization and its membership. I am only now beginning to feel like I might have something to contribute. As a current member of the Development Subcommittee, I am working to identify prospective board candidates who might help in our fundraising and development efforts. As an organization, CTCNet is at an important crossroads in its development and one of the board's immediate challenges is to bring resources to the table that will support the mission, membership and staff. This is all part of an ongoing strategic planning process that is underway, helping the board and staff to plan for both the short- and long-term future of CTCNet. While strategic planning can be a difficult and time-consuming effort, it has certainly focused my understanding of community technology -- its history and the challenges we face today and certainly into the future. Personally, I bring the experience, perspective and representation of the disability community to the board and hope my voice will help to make CTCNet a truly inclusive community."

Note to CTCNet members: "I know the difficulty and importance of your work and would simply like to thank each of you for making the big and small, personal and professional sacrifices that go into building and strengthening your communities. Your vision and commitment are truly extraordinary and most clearly reflect not the technology but the people you serve. Thanks!"

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CTCNet Welcomes 13 New Members

 

Welcome to the Network!

 

California

Teen Post, Inc.- Los Angeles, CA

District of Columbia

YMCA Calomiris - Washington, DC

Illinois

Community Service Options, Inc.- Chicago, IL
Knowledge Hook-Up - Chicago, IL

Massachusetts

University of Massachusetts Lowell - Lowell, MA

Ohio

Dr. Samuel L. Bossard Memorial Library - Gallipolis, OH
Southern Prairie Incubation Center for Entrepreneurs - New Straistville, OH
The Ohio State University - Piketon, OH
Women Blessing Women- Toledo, OH

South Carolina

South Carolina New Communities - Clemson, SC

Texas

NAACP Houston - Houston, TX

Virginia

Service Source - Alexandria, VA

Wisconsin

Urban Underground - Milwaukee, WI

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Deep Freeze Discount

CTCNet Members can order licenses of Deep Freeze software (Deep Freeze Enterprise Edition).  Licenses are available at the discounted rate of $11.50/license plus fees for the maintenance package, media, shipping/handling and administrative fee.

For more information or to place an order, contact Sherita by email or phone at (202) 462-1200.

CTCNet Resources

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