'Computers in the Home' Program Building
Organization:
Council for World Class Communities VISTA Name:
Becky Shuler
Program Start:
9/2004
Program End:
9/2007
Project Description:
Goal 1: Take over general operations of the Computers in the Home Phase of the BDE program.
Goal 2: Design a process to identify remaining students who qualify for the BDE Computers in the Home phase.
Goal 3: Development of volunteer training program. Recruit and coordinate volunteers for the BDE program.
Goal 4: Develop follow up procedures with the BDE families.
Goal 5: Develop procedures to identify potential candidates to become involved in Phases III, IV & V of the BDE program, CWCC literacy initiative and the Home Ownership Institute (HOI).
Goal 6: Implement an after-school computer assistance program.
Project Outcome:
Our project to date has had good results, we finished last years with the Bridges to Digital Excellence (BDE) program donating 742 total computers and training to students in grades three through eight. As of today we are at 793 Families that have completed our program. Becky has done a good job of running operations for the Computers in the Home part of BDE.
As of the beginning of this year’s program which started the last week of February Becky has managed all aspects of the program except purchasing of computers. As I did when we first started the BDE program there were some bumps in the road but things came together. The same has happed with Becky leading the Computers In the Home program now. I have full confidence in her abilities to continue the excellence and maintain standards that we strive for. Our one outlying goal is to have the program we put on compete with the best programs in the world. To my knowledge there is not another program in the country that is striving to bridge the digital divide as quickly and efficiently as this program is. We are estimating that by the end of next year every child across Berrien County in grades three through eight will have a computer in their home. We know that with the 793 families that have completed the program we have had 1586 people in the program and that more than 3000 individuals have been indirectly affected by the BDE program providing technology to so many homes. We want to see Becky continue to take advantage of the wealth of passion for the work we do. At our monthly steering committee meetings she gets to sit with the upper level IT management from almost every major employer in our community. She has been exposed to a brainstorming technique that was developed by Whirlpool Corp. called an “Ideation Session” and how it can be used to expel ideas from a group that are there but people just don’t realize. Becky also worked on a project for a development company; she wrote a proposal for a local art house to integrate technology into storytelling.
In her second year, Becky has effectively taken on all operations of the computers in the home program and is doing a good job running the program. We are looking forward to reaching our 1000th family by the end of 2005.