Alice Griffith Opportunity Center

I’ve recently taken on another volunteer project. For the last two Saturdays I have gone to Alice Griffith Opportunity Center in a part of San Francisco called the Bayview. The volunteer project is organized by TechConnect, which connects volunteers with people in need of computer training. Just days earlier I announced that I was going to take the month of June off from volunteering and enjoy my free time, but after going there I realized it would be a great way to spend my Saturday mornings.

The first day I and another volunteer helped 6 adults, two of whom had never used the computer before. The following week there was a new volunteer and only one return student from the week prior. I was a little discouraged because there were two people who said they would be back and we were going to work on Microsoft Publisher. But what we had instead were two adults and 7 kids ranging from ages 5-15. I was running around the room getting typing games started, searching the CTN Bay Area websites for links for websites that were both fun and educational. McGruff was definitely a hit!

This weekend is a holiday, so no session was planned. But I’ll be back there next Saturday and look forward to seeing who shows up looking to gain some computer skills and have a little fun.

One California Foundation

Yesterday I went to visit a new nonprofit that is quite unique. It is called One California Foundation and they own a bank. There are only a few like it in the country and I can see it being a major force in the future for helping people become self sufficient. The bank is a regular bank where you can get loans and start a checking account, and the foundation arm focuses on educating people on financial literacy and how to do online banking. They want to help people understand how much money they are throwing away by going to the check cashing places.

They also have a program that shows smalls how to create an online store. They have a great website (www.oaklandunwrapped.org) that makes this process really easy and businesses only get charged a small transaction fee. This is a new project with only 15 businesses using the service, but they hope to increase this number 100 by December. They also hope to offer this service to other cities. It promotes local small business and entrepreneurship. I love it!

The difference an email can make

I’ve been volunteering at Hayes Valley Learning Center for about a year now and the experience has had its ups and down. We’re in an upward swing right now, last Tuesday I received some news that made the time I’ve spent completely worth while. A few months ago, one of my students came in upset about something and wanted my help. L. is in his fifties and a new computer user, he had been to class only 2-3 times and was still not able to log into his email by himself.

He moved to San Francisco after his house was lost in Hurricane Katrina and recently heard about a program called The Road Home that helps residents of Louisiana affected by Hurricane Katrina or Rita get back into their homes. To apply you can fill out a form online or call for an application. Since L. didn’t know how to use the computer at the time he called for an application but received it 2 days before the deadline and wasn’t able to submit it in time. He wanted help sending an email to them to ask for an extension. Another volunteer, T., helped him go to their site and find an email address, compose and send the message. We were all excited about the possibility that he could get an extension because he sent this email. But, the following Tuesday when he checked his email there was a message from them saying there was nothing they could do. I wasn’t surprised, but I was mad. It’s just not fair to expect people to know how to use the computer to apply online. They must have been flooded with requests for the paper application and not able to respond to everyone. Over a month has passed since that happened, and last week he showed me a letter that nearly made me cry. It was from The Road Home telling him that they would find someone to help him. We’re not sure what this means or how much they’ll help, but it shows the importance of know how to use the computer in 2008. Without access and knowledge people are being left behind and it’s not right.

New San Francisco Bay Area Community Technology Meetup!

CTN Bay Area and TechConnect invite you to attend the first Community Technology Meetup! Each month we will tour a different organization in the Bay Area that offers technology programs. Learn about their programs and what they are doing to provide digital opportunities in their community. We will share ideas, innovative curriculum and resources. Most importantly, we will begin to build networks to facilitate partnerships.

When: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 from 4pm-6pm
Where: Goodwill, 1500 Mission Street, San Francisco

Refreshments will be provided, click here to join the Meetup and RSVP. Become a member of this Meetup and receive announcements for future events!

2007 Accomplishments

I’m very proud of what was accomplished in 2007:

I was able to help get 15 computers donated to the Hayes Valley Learning Center and with the help of several wonderful volunteers from the SF Linux Users Group (SFLUG) the computers are using the operating system Edubuntu and running beautifully (most the time). The computer lab was in pretty bad shape before the donation and most of the 7 computers weren’t working properly. For the last couple of years the room was used infrequently and was in dire need of cleaning and organizing.

The room is now used for an after school program Monday-Friday where kids have filtered access to the internet and educational games. This is made possible through a partnership with the Western Addition YMCA.

Beginner level computer classes were offered in July and again in December by volunteers. We’ve had the opportunity to help 9 adults learn more about the computer and internet, many were using the computer for the first time.

Another volunteer, Thea, and I have been working one-on-one with two students. It’s been a great learning experience for all of us and I realize this format works better than trying to teach the same thing to everyone. We are able to focus on their specific needs and questions and is a higher quality experience for everyone. We hope to continue using this model in the new year.

Tenderloin Tech Support Day

On December 15th I helped organize an event in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco that was a great success. It was a partnership of several nonprofits: SF Connect, St. Anthony Foundation, San Francisco Network Ministries, Reliatech and Goodwill. Participants brought in their equipment and a dozen computer technicians were available to assess and repair them completely free of charge. While their computer was being fixed, participants could spend their time working one-on-one with volunteers on the computer to learn more about the computer and internet. I worked with three people who had never used the computer before, it’s such a great feeling to introduce someone to the internet.

CNET was there and created a nice video the gives a great overview. Here’s a link to the video.

Next steps with HVLC

The first month of classes at HVLC was a success, only two people stopped coming. But it wasn’t a great success. I was hoping that everyone who attended would leave feeling excitement for using the computer, tell their friends and the word of mouth would help spread the word. Boy was I wrong!

There’s so much work to do before this computer lab is a place that I hope it can be. A place that helps build community and offers an options for those who take it to make their lives better. But, right now there’s no money to hire anyone who can coordinate volunteers or teach classes and the only people working in the room are volunteers.

So last Friday I met with David Mauroff, a manager for McCormick Barons (the company that manages the property) to discuss funding options. MCB doesn’t have money, but they have a partnership with Urban Strategies which is a nonprofit who will serve as our fiscal sponsor. That’s good news, if we are able to secure funding, at least we’ll have a place for the money to go.

But we’re never going to get money if we don’t have buy-in from the community, and that’s the HARD part. The housing project has a group called the Residents Management Council (RMC), they are the key to getting things started but there are only four of them and they don’t know what to do to make the room the place they want it to be. I think there’s consensus; everyone wants to see the computer lab become a happening place but no one know where to begin. Neither do I, but I think having a dinner and inviting everyone who lives in the housing project is a good place to start. We could take this opportunity to survey their needs and ask what kind of computer classes they want and try to determine what their other needs might be such as literacy, equipment, or internet access. I’m trying to schedule a meeting next week for the RMC to discuss this topic and see if this is something we want to do and how to proceed.

Here are some of my initial thoughts on making this happen:
-have it the second week of November
-send out nice invitations to everyone and require a RSVP
-contact Richard & Vallie to see if there is any local restaurants that will give a discount
-contact MoMagic and see if they will help sponsor, find other sponsors
-reserve a large enough space
-part a presentation together, see if Ivory will speak
-put together a survey for them to complete, include what days/times would they like classes and if they would like to be contact later when classes begin

What to do in the meantime: (get sign off from RMC)
-create a calendar of hours (2-6 M-F for kids, Tues & Thur 6-8 open use adults)
-create a logo
-create a basic website with plans for expansion (already have a volunteer to do this)
-make engaging flyers to hang around the community (not just the housing project)
-do outreach to the churches

Class #2 at HVLC

The second class at Hayes Valley Learning center was just as good as the first! One women didn’t show up, but another eager student took her seat. We quickly got him up to speed by helping him register for an email account. The students exchanged email addresses and sent each other messages. We talked about the different folders that email has and what it’s for. We even talked about spam which is one of my favorite topics because the jokes around spam are great!

We moved onto Google and did a couple of searches as a group. I have them look for kids activities San Francisco free. Many of the students have or work with children, so I thought this search was appropriate. They spend the next 20 minutes doing searches of there own; one research local gyms, another was looking for articles about the drill team she coaches and another found a website that allows you to build your own motorcycle.

Then they discovered Google maps with the street view function and went crazy. I really wanted to show them Google Earth, but we have installed that program yet. There are so many fun things to learn! I can’t wait until we start blogging!

Hamilton Family Center

Computer Class
Another project I’ve been working on is coordinating a computer class at Hamilton Family Center led by volunteers. HFC provides transitional housing for people moving from shelters into permanent housing. The class was last night and it went really well! Most the volunteers are Community Fellows with Full Circle Fund, of which I’m a part. Each volunteer was matched with someone from HFC and the pair worked on anything from registering for an email, to looking for housing, to creating blogs. It was great to see the exchange of knowledge and the excitement of learning. I think everyone, including the volunteers, left knowing something new.

Video
My coworker is taking a video class and was looking for projects to gain more experience. He offered to film this project and interviewed the volunteers and the families who live at HFC. We hope to create a short video that highlights the need for more funding that will enable places like HFC and the Hayes Valley Learning Center to offer more technology classes to their community.

Refurbished Computers
HFC only had five working computers, so I coordinated a deal with a local computer refurbisher, ReliaTech, and acquired six more computers for their lab. ReliaTech and its sister organization, Street Tech, are great resources for community that provide training and jobs.

Class was a success!

I’m really happy with how the computer class turned out! There were six students and three volunteers (in addition to me). The students were really excited to learn new information and have people available to them that they could ask questions. This first class covered the absolute basics: parts of the computer, minimize and maximizing windows. But they were especially excited to get email addresses. I had everyone send me an email address, here’s one of the messages I received:

Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to teach the residents of Hayes Valley Apartments. Even though I am a little familiar with the computer, I found that I learned a lot today. I look forward to coming to the next class.

Here are some pictures from the class:

The Edubuntu computers worked like a charm and I don’t think using a non-Microsoft operating system phased anyone. I’ll keep you posted on the progress of the lab and community development.