Lee County CDC/CTC

Location:
Marianna, AR

Our Mission is to improve the quality of life for the residents of Lee, St. Francis, and Phillips counties, by offering community economic development opportunities and activities in affordable housing, youth leadership development and intervention services, alternative adult education methods, job skills training, and community access to technology and training, which will lead residents to sustainable self-sufficiency.

Lee County CDC programs include education projects designed to increase the skills of youth and adults in the community. Within the offices of the CDC is the Lee County Community Technology Center. The center promotes local technology awareness and education by providing low-income area youth and adults with the opportunity to enhance their computer skills. The Center offers technology training and provides hardware and software to various sites throughout the Lee County area. Currently 560 individuals (children and adults) have taken advantage of the Technology center and the programs offered. Lee County CDC also provides space for the Lee County GED/ABE Adult Education Program in cooperation with Crowley’s Ridge Vo-Tech Center in Forrest City. The average enrollment for this class both day and night is 15 students.

Lee County CDC served as the pilot site for the Biz Tech Program. The Biz Tech program is an on-line entrepreneurial development program which focuses on teaching youth the skills needed to start their own businesses. Fifteen youth participated in this pilot project; with eight of those young people working together to start a small business called “A Little Something Special”. The group made, marketed and sole individualized gift baskets for Valentine’s Day. The business project was successful and ended showing a profit.

Supported Projects



CTC Outreach and Support

Amber Lanes
9/20045/2005

Amber Lanes is currently working as a computer technician with Lee County CDC/CTC. Amber has shown an interest in the technology program and is working to enhance the community outreach efforts pertaining to the use of technology in today’s society.

Amber adds her own personal touch to the community training for the various groups and individual training sessions held at the Technology Center. Her approach builds the comfort zone for each person, regardless of their skill levels. She also works very hard to resolve the various hardware problems both at the CTC and with other nonprofits in the community.

Lee County Community Technology Center has been the hub for technology training and uses since 1999. With Amber’s contributions the CTC remains at the forefront in filling the needs of the community. Amber continues to be a valued asset to Lee County CDC/CTC and to the community.

Our AmeriCorp Vista member is currently working with the on-line training program for the A-Plus Core Certification Examination through Prep Logic.

The technology program working in conjunction of the Arkansas Delta Dreams program provides individual and special group sessions. Our successes for the past quarter have been the effective training of 15 seniors in basic and intermediate software and hardware. They covered the components of the computer, various basic software applications, surfing the Internet and sending and receiving e-mail. This has prompted many of the participants, whose ages range from 65 to 85, to purchase computer for their homes and/or obtain Internet services so they can “keep up and stay in the know.” One of the participants called our offices when they received their first e-mail communications from their great-great grand child, who is ten years of age. We call this bridging the generation and technology gaps.




Transmission Project