$699K in federal funds to boost computer access in Cambridge public housing

Boston Globe ^ | March 5, 2010 | Shana Wickett

[reaganaut1]

Internet access – a key to economic opportunity in the 21st century – is something most residents of the Cambridge Housing Authority don't have.

Nearly 60 percent of residents and 84 percent of elderly residents have no Internet access, according to a federal grant application filed by the authority. Three computer centers that served 600 residents were shuttered in July due to budget cuts.

“With limited education and economic opportunity, and little access to technology, CHA residents are destined to repeat the cycle of generational poverty that has plagued their predecessors,” the proposal said.

But change is coming.

The Department of Commerce has awarded the CHA $699,000 in federal stimulus funding to refurbish and reopen the computer centers with new computers, and with high-speed, broadband Internet access.

“What we’re looking to do … is to give people access to the skills and the experience that they need to join the economic and social mainstream,” said Steven Swanger, director of resident services at the authority.

The residents are largely minorities and often immigrants -- and they account for nearly 10 percent of the city’s population. Thirty-one percent have less than a high school education. Most residents who do access the Internet use dial-up service. The grant money will help close the “digital divide," Swanger said.

The computer centers will each ideally support 20 residents at a time and create about 26 jobs in total, he said. Through an educational program, the housing authority will offer training in computer and Internet proficiency, and computer-based instruction in topics such as searching for a job and English as a second language. The technology would also help young residents stay in school and prepare for college, Swanger said.

“It opens up new horizons for our residents,” he said.

[reaganaut1]

Grant announcement here . So we get to pay for free broadband Internet for the "poor". People who need Internet access to search for a job could use the computers in the public library.

[gathersnomoss]

Hope and change. This is what George Will calls buying votes.

And slowly we turn.

[all the best]

They could search for jobs at the library but they would still be cheated out of the chance to enjoy pornography and online gaming in the comfort of their homes.

[11Bush]

With limited education and economic opportunity, and little access to technology, CHA residents are destined to repeat the cycle of generational poverty that has plagued their predecessors,”

So, what is the excuse for the previous generations that have amounted to nothing more than a leech on society? It must be that before the internet was invented by Al Bore they knew they needed the internet to prosper.

[lakeman]

So instead of getting a job they can update their facebook page.

[Freddd]

H*ck of a beer summit!

[I Buried My Guns]

"...So, what is the excuse for the previous generations that have amounted to nothing more than a leech on society?..."

Generational shiftlessness?

[smokingfrog]

[ichabod1]

GET UP OFFA DAT STASH, BO!

[telebob]

I’m sure with greater access to technology, the residents of the Canbridge Housing Authority will experience a sudden inflow of cash - thanks to converting technology to greenbacks on the street!