Computer Clubhouse Award
The Computer Clubhouse at the Computer Museum in Boston has won the 1997 Peter Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation. The Award is given each year to an innovative program that has made a difference in the lives of the people it serves, has measurable outcomes, and serves as a model that can be replicated by others. The Award was named for and inspired by Peter Drucker, the renowned management authority, and is highly competitive. In addition to presenting the Award, the Foundation will produce a 10-minute video about the Clubhouse, featuring the stories of some of the Clubhouse youth whose lives have been changed by the Clubhouse.
Tim Barclay announcing
Josh Merrow of El Puente
as 1997 Awardee of
Innovative Initiative Award
Josh Merrow was the 1997 winner of the CTCNet Innovative Initiative Award, which is accompanied by $1,000 from a trust established by Tim Barclay. The following are extracts from Josh's nomination: Josh "has endeavored to make the center accessible not only to the El Puente students, but also to the wider community.
In terms of the high school, Josh has made the center much more popular with students with programs like a UNIX programming club, a student-run after-school website design business, and forums on fun things like image manipulation and graphic design.
"The focus of most of Josh's work is that to make technology useful, one has to look at it critically and determine how to use it as a tool. This requires that one question the claims made by manufacturers that their technology makes one's life better by virtue of itself.
"In terms of his outreach to the community, Josh has built bridges benefiting not only the technology center but the entire El Puente organization. As a result of his vision, creativity, and unbounded energy he has expanded the services of the center to reach people of all ages and backgrounds, and enabled El Puente to meet diverse and urgent local needs - from career training, to creative arts, to community organizing..."
Plugged In Wins NII-Award;
CTCNet a Finalist
The 1997 National Information Infrastructure (NII) Award in the Public Access category, sponsored by the United States Postal Service, was won by Plugged In, a CTCNet affiliate in East Palo Alto, California. CTCNet, itself, was one of eight finalists. See more details about the award at http://www.gii-award.com. (It's now become known as the Global Information Infrastructure Awards.)
Corliss Grimes, Director of the Institute for Academics After-School Tutorial Program in Washington D.C., was honored with an award by the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, Federal City Alumnae Chapter City Chapter. To listen to Corliss's acceptance speech, contact Phil Shapiro (pshapiro@his.com).
The following were winners of computers and other equipment in the 1997 Apple/CTCNet Partnership Award Program.
Ability Center of Greater Toledo
Sylvania, OH
Dale Abell
The Ability Center's mission is "to enable persons with disabilities to live and participate in the
community with the greatest possible independence." The purpose of the Technology Access
Program is to provide direct access to adaptable computers and computer-related technology for use as
tools by persons with disabilities to live and participate in the community as independently as possible; and
to facilitate equal access to computers and computer-related technology for persons with disabilities
through the development of partnerships with community computing centers, libraries, Internet service
providers, and other technology-oriented businesses.
Austin Free-Net
Austin, TX Sue Beckwith
http://www.austinfree.net
In partnership with other local organizations, the Austin Free-Net has developed the East Austin Media
Lab, a multimedia development center for disadvantaged youth. The design elements of the project
include: open access periods at each lab; basic training on Internet/Web page development; intensive
training and mentor/protege relationships for small groups of teens; and internships with local
companies.
AVTEC (Alaska Vocational Technical Education)
Seward, AK
Lisa Rininger
The Seward Adult Learning Center (SALC) provides adult learning opportunities to Seward residents and
to Alaskan students attending the Alaska Vocational-Technical Education Center (AVTEC). These services include
GED, ESL, basic math, basic English, and basic computer instruction. SALC programs are available to the
public at large at little or no cost, with fees routinely waived for those who have difficulty paying.
Barrio Action Youth and Family Center
Los Angeles, CA
Ulises Diaz, Holly Harper
Barrio Action, through its Alternative Education, Family Stabilization, Homework Assistance and
Enrichment Programs, takes a diversified approach to helping youth living in the Northeast area of Los
Angeles gain education, self-confidence and employment direction. In addition to developing participants'
word-processing skills, facilitating homework preparation, etc., the Center is planning to expand its Arts,
Visual Studies and Environmental Technology program to include a variety of computer design activities
in collaboration with the Southern California Institute of Architecture.
Boston Photo Collaborative
Jamaica Plain, MA
Carl Mastandrea, Lauren O'Neal
Computer technology is being integrated into programs that teach teens about photography and introduce
and develop job and business capabilities and will also support after-school programs, adult classes and
hours for unstructured exploration, with staff, volunteers and digital artists available to help
participants.
Calvary Bilingual Multicultural Learning Center
Washington, DC
Nick Blatchford, Beatriz Otero
CBMLC is completing renovations on its 73,000 square-foot facility in the heart of Washington, DC,
where it will be expanding programs and services in support of its mission to develop creativity through
multi-disciplinary arts programs. Local families, youth, staff and teachers will have access to the computer
learning center about 70 hours a week, with both structured classes and open access hours offered.
Chavis Lifelong Learning Branch, Greensboro Public Library
Greensboro, NC
Lou Sua, Sandy Neerman
To assure access to technology by low-income families in the neighborhood, the Library provides
computer classes, and a computer lab for parents, pre-school children, senior adults, students, community
groups, churches, human services clients and adult literacy students.
Community TV of Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, CA
Laura Greenfield
http://www.communitytv.org/
Public access usage hours will be offered Monday through Saturday with staff and/or volunteer mentors
available to provide assistance to users. Additional programmatic emphasis will include WWW page
development, access to the Internet for enhanced telecommunications and video conferencing, graphic
design and digital video editing.
East End Community Organization
Xenia, OH
Sa'iyd Yasin, Christopher Vaughn
The Center's mission is to provide East End residents with access to computer technology through
programs including: providing different age groups tutorial through the aid of computer software; offering
members of the community the opportunity to use computers to explore their own interests; providing
basic workshops; and providing small business support through accounting software, word processing, and
desktop publishing availability for aspiring entrepreneurs.
El Centrito De La Colonia
Oxnard, California
Heidi Estrada
El Centrito is a bilingual bicultural community center located in the Mexican American community of
Oxnard, California, known as La Colonia. The mission is to provide free counseling, support and
prevention services to youth, families and farm workers of La Colonia, promote bicultural pride and
involve community residents in addressing their ongoing needs. The agency operates two technology
access programs: an After School Drop-In Computer Program, and a Computer Assisted Early Literacy
Program.
Falmouth Community Television
Falmouth, MA
Debra Rogers
The mission of FCTV is to provide training and access to telecommunications to the Falmouth community.
Its computer center will be open a minimum of 60 hours per week with staff available during all open
hours. There will be training classes each week, while individual exploration, practice and open access will
be emphasized during most of the hours, with advanced users helping to mentor less experienced
users.
Bennett Johnston Learning Center at My House, Inc.
New Orleans, LA
Yolanda Scott, Jennifer Johnson
My House, Inc. is a transitional housing program serving homeless
mothers and their children in the New Orleans area. It will be expanding services, including computer
facilities, to assist at-risk neighborhood adolescents and single mothers.
Jewish Community Center, St. Paul
St. Paul, MN
Dori Denell
The Center's technology program will include: a mentoring program to teach computer skills, with teens
paired with senior adults, people with disabilities, and people who do not speak English as their first
language; classes in several different languages including Russian, Laotian, and Spanish for the community
surrounding the Center and in low-income housing units adjacent to the Center; computer time for teens
and adults for the preparation of homework assignments and exploration; and computer use to enhance the
ESL educational programs for senior adults.
Latimer Education Program / Carver Community Center
Schenectady, NY
Richard Parkany
Begun in 1938, Carver Community Center is a settlement house whose technology program will provide
basic computer literacy and skills, job readiness training, and small business support in addition to
extensive public access hours.
Marietta Area Community Computing Center (MACCCenter)
Marietta, OH
Mary Kerns
MACCC is a project of the Family Learning Center, located in a converted storefront in a rural part of
Ohio. The program serves clients through open access hours, hands-on workshops, and cooperative
programs with ABLE and Literacy Volunteers of America.
Neighborhood House of Milwaukee Youth Media Project
Milwaukee, WI
Philip Bautista, Andi McKenna
Founded in 1945, as part of the settlement house movement, Neighborhood House emphasizes services to
teens and to families with young children. Technology programs will include Youth Media Development,
English as a Second Language/Job Readiness, Parent Support, Family Fun Night, and the Senior
Technology Program.
North Light Community Center / Neighborhood Access to Technology
Philadelphia, PA
Ed DiMidio, Irene Madrak
A multi-service agency, North Light serves some 5,000 community members. Constituents are a multi-
ethnic mix of lower middle class working families and senior citizens, one third of whom fall below the
federal poverty level; the others are working poor and working class. The computer lab will include hours
for participants of all ages with programs including basic computer skills, practical applications such as
letter writing and resume preparation, and multimedia/Internet development.
Philadelphia Parent Child Center, Inc.
Philadelphia, PA
PPCC was founded in an economically and socially distressed community for the purpose of assisting low-
income children and their families. The technology program includes job training and GED classes with
goals of increasing skill levels and self-esteem and motivating clients to set and reach goals to secure a
better quality of life for themselves and their children.
Plugged In
East Palo Alto, CA
Bart Decrem, Hector Campos
http://www.pluggedin.org
Plugged In's mission is to bridge the technological gap between East Palo Alto, a culturally rich low-
income community, and the neighboring Silicon Valley. Each week, Plugged In offers approximately 35
computer-related classes to a wide range of individuals and organizations. When classes are not in session,
the Macintosh lab becomes a part of a drop-in center. Seventy hours a week, Plugged In provides free
access to computers and the Internet to people of all ages.
Portland Museum
West Louisville, KY
Nathalie Andrews
The Museum plans to target an audience of older youth and community adults who do
not have access to computers and to offer them training in computer skills. A computer classroom will be
available during the Museum's regular public hours and special training classes will be held on weekends
and in the evenings.
Prologue Alternative High School, Inc.
Chicago, IL
Nancy Jackson
Prologue's Community Computing Center is one of the few public access technology centers in Chicago
and the only one in the North Side Uptown community. Open to all Uptown residents and any Prologue
student, the lab offers free public computer literacy classes and software training in evenings and on
Saturdays, as well as unstructured public access time.
RECA Foundation / Pasco Center
Kennewick, WA
Bruce McComb, Ronda Evans
http://www.tcfn.org
At the Pasco Community Employment and Educational Computing Center, area residents will receive
training in computer technology, and participate in activities such as computer recycling, GED preparation,
ESL, Web development, and youth-adult mentoring. A partnership with the Washington State Migrant
Council will bring services to local farm workers.
Street-Level Youth Media
Chicago, IL
Tony Streit
http://streetlevel.iit.edu/
Services of Street-Level Youth Media include: Training and Access in Media Technology for at-risk urban
youth, including open access; computer classes; school-age education; collaborations with other agencies;
video and audio production; Internet Access; and digital publishing.
TechnoTots
Highland Park, NJ
Stephanie McIntyre
Techno Tots will be operating an Out-Of-School Youth Program, a Preschool-Age Program, and an
extensive Open Access Program for community residents to use equipment in self-directed, self-paced
activities and projects.
YWCA Boston / Youth Voice Collaborative
Boston, MA
Ruth Irving-Parham
The YWCA Boston, as lead agency in collaboration with the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, the
Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, and the Patriots' Trail Girl Scout Council has for three years been engaged
in Youth Voice Collaborative, a media technology program for urban young men and women. Goals of the
program, which will utilize the awarded Apple equipment, are to increase the "youth voice" in
the media, encourage a more accurate portrayal of youth in the media, and develop skills in analytical and
critical thinking, oral and written communication, and computer and other technical skills.
Table of Contents