Plugged-In: A Low-Income Community Joins the Information Age
East Palo Alto, California
Five years ago, residents of East Palo Alto, California, were in serious danger of being left out of the information Revolution swirling around them in Silicon Valley. Now, they are part of that revolution, thanks in large part to a thriving community center called Plugged In.
Operating out of a storefront that sits between a check-cashing center and a boarded-up store, Plugged In offers members of a low-income community everything from local telephone service to basic and advanced computer classes. It helps social service agencies connect electronically with each other and the outside world. Teenagers who run a separate organization, Plugged In Enterprises, provide basic web-page design and Internet services to area businesses. And kids trained at Plugged In help host the global "Live Wire" program America Online, which the New York times calls " the worlds most popular online teen chat services.
After School Access "Bridges the Information Gap"
These are no small achievements. "Before Plugged In exited, many kids hers literally had never even seen a computer," says Bart Decrem, executive director of Plugged In. In a society where an estimated 60 per cent of all new jobs will require skill with technology by the year 2000, East Palo Alto technological impoverishment was a recipe for economic decline.
With help from Plugged In, East Palo is starting to turn itself around. Grants from TIIAP and other donors have enabled the center to grow from an after-school program for kids into an electronic hub for its entire community. Open 12 hours a day, seven days a week, Kids drop in to use computers for homework assignments, and adults use the center to search the internet for jobs. Some have even launched their own businesses from the center. Bishop Wethington, a 59-year old community resident, used the center's computers to study community college course material on contracting. Since landing his contractor's license in May, 1997, he has used the center's computers to prepare bids for contracts.
Plugged In works closely with several social service agencies. Besides training the partner's clients in how to use technology, it helps the various agencies mount their own web pages and forge electronic links with similar groups and City Hall. According to Priya Haji, executive director of "Free At Last," a local drug rehabilitation program, this has greatly improved her communications with funders, volunteers, government leaders, and the community at large.
Teenagers Build Job Skills
Plugged In has had a direct, positive impact on area students. Many local teenagers are now earning $ 5 an hour and typically work 20-hour weeks creating web pages for area companies. According to Decrem, showing youths that their skills will help them make money is an effective motivator.
Besides earning some of their own money, the students produce at least one web site a month on a pro bono basis, and they publish the community calendar, "epa.net,"for distribution by e-mail, fax and over the World Wide Web. The calendar provides "one window for Silicon Valley to see into the community, and get a broader understanding of what our community is," according to Haji.
LiveWire, the American Online chat group moderated by Plugged In students, offers East Palo Alto youths a chance to reach an even wider audience. According to the New York Times, they have seizes the opportunity. The Times says the program, in which students brainstorm "thoughtful topics" and conduct "passionate debates," has energetic elitist feel one would expect of a cutting-edge Silicon Valley endeavor."
As a new type of organization, providing services and opportunities that were not there before, Plugged In predictably faces new challenges. For sustainability reasons, Plugged In is looking ahead and working with Silicon Valley industries and local entrepreneurs to make sure the long-term financial support necessary for the project's continued success.
Audrey Iwata
Project Coordinator
(650) 322-1134
audrey@pluggedin.org
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Source: U.S. Department of Commerce
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Office of Telecommunications and Information Applications
Last Modified: 18 Dec 97