Seattle approves 320K for community tech projects
Community Technology Projects Receive $320,000 in Assistance:
City Council approved $320,000 in matching funds to support twenty-four community technology projects across the city today. The grants will provide technological resources for youth and families, immigrants and refugees, seniors, people with disabilities and job seekers. Specifically, the projects will provide neighborhoods with resources for supporting education, workforce skills, public engagement, community building, after-school homework assistance, digital skills training for social media, audio and video production and basic training in computer and Internet skills.
The projects will assist over 5,000 residents and help to further digital inclusion for Seattleites. More than half (13) of this year’s projects are new provider organizations.
The Technology Matching Fund (TMF) program provides grants where the community’s contribution of volunteer labor, materials, professional services, or cash is “matched” with the awarding of financial assistance. The Citizens’ Telecommunications and Technology Advisory Board (CTTAB) recommended these digital inclusion projects to the Mayor and Council through an open competitive application process.
“This is a critical partnership between the City and the community to maximize resources to ensure that all of our residents have the resources to succeed,” said Councilmember Bruce Harrell, chair of the Public Safety, Civil Rights and Technology Committee. “Council has listened to the community each year and added money to maintain the TMF funding at $320,000. This inclusive program reflects the City’s commitment to Race and Social Justice by providing resources and technology access to all of our residents.”
Antonio Lopez, a young man living in Labateyah, a United Indians Youth Home said, “Having Microsoft Word on the computers will be very helpful to those of us planning to go back school this year — almost half the youth living at the house.”
Tanner Phillips from Neighborhood House said, “to put it simply, TMF funds change people’s lives. Technology plays a crucial role in what we do at Rainier Vista to empower people to be self-sufficient. Funds directly support job seekers to find jobs, pay bills and pay for their education. Over time we’ve seen a lot of good from these funds.”
Kiflemariam Sequar from the Eritrean Community in Seattle & Vicinity said, “The computer lab helps all groups come together and contributes to a safe neighborhood. Everything in our life uses technology, whether we like it or not. If we don’t use technology we will be falling behind.”
2013 Technology Matching Fund Projects: http://www.seattle.gov/tech/tmf/Projects2013.htm
826 Seattle
Technology Upgrade
Provide hardware and software to improve students’ literacy, creative processes, and writing and design skills. Students will use computers and the Internet for writing and to learn ways to self-publish through blogs, podcasts and social media websites.
Type: Technology Literacy and Access
Afrique Service Center
Immigrant & Refugee Community Tech & Literacy
Train and assist low income East African refugees and immigrants to be computer literate, self-sufficient and engaged in their community and in their children’s education.
Type: Technology Literacy and Access
Asian Counseling and Referral Service
Retail Technology Class
Provide a Retail Technology Class to persons with mental illness. Students will learn iPad Point-of-Sale (POS) systems, computerized cash registers, inventory management, and sales reporting. Students will practice their newly acquired retail skills at Café Hope, their in-house espresso stand.
Type: Technology Literacy and Access
Awareness and Recovery Institute
Recovery through Journalism
Train 6 to 8 East African youths to observe and report on community events for Runta News. Assist the youth in organizing their own websites, blogs, journalism clubs, and possibly their own youth newspaper.
Type: Civic Engagement
Barton Place Apartments / Seattle Housing Authority
Barton Place Computer Lab
Expand programming in the low income housing computer lab to be open 25 hours/week for 48 weeks, and offering 95 hours of computer classes on various topics in English, Vietnamese and Somali.
Type: Technology Literacy and Access
Big-Brained Superheroes Club
Yesler Terrace Meets Digital Logic
Teach low income students in Yesler Terrace STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) workshops in digital logic and electronics. Students will build their own circuits and logic gates in a hands-on engineering lab.
Type: Technology Literacy and Access
Consejo Counseling & Referral Service
Improving Technology Access for South Park Youth
Add new computer equipment to the existing computer lab in South Park. Case managers, counselors or therapists will help Latino youth achieve their goals through improved access to technology.
Type: Technology Literacy and Access
Crown Hill Neighborhood Association
Technology literacy classes at Labateyah
Provide 50 weeks of on-site computer literacy classes for technology underserved, minority youth at United Indians Youth Home.
Type: Technology Literacy and Access
El Centro de la Raza
Senior Computer Literacy and Community Access
Expand Wi-Fi availability throughout El Centro de la Raza’s building (including the Senior Program facilities) to increase community access. Train seniors how to safely use the Web, email, Facebook, Skype (and other social media) to improve their overall quality of life.
Type: Technology Literacy and Access
Eritrean Community in Seattle & Vicinity
Eritrean Community Technology Learning Center
Upgrade outdated computers in the Technology Learning Center and offer basic and professional computer skills and Tigrinya language training (GEEZ) to Eritrean families.
Type: Technology Literacy and Access
Ethiopian Community in Seattle
Technology Literacy and Access
Add technology to the existing computer resource center and expand educational programming to provide internet based quality after-school, winter, spring and Summer camp programs for Ethiopian youth.
Type: Technology Literacy and Access
Filipino Community of Seattle
FCS-TMC STEAM Lab
Provide a Robotics and Computer Literacy program targeting low-income, at-risk youth of color grades 8 -12 who have little or no technology or technical skills. The project will establish a STEAM lab (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) at the Filipino Community Center, complete with computer hardware, software, and robotics hardware.
Type: Technology Literacy and Access
Hollow Earth Radio
Hollow Earth Radio Low Power FM Planning Grant
Help transition from an online-only community music & information broadcast to a Low Power FM (LPFM) station in the Central district. The project will apply to the FCC for a license, upgrade existing studio gear to FM-broadcast quality equipment and engage the community to discuss programming goals.
Type: Technology Literacy and Access
Horn Of Africa Services
Technology Literacy Project
Empower East African immigrants and refugees by providing open lab time and computer skill training necessary for civic and cultural participation, employment, lifelong learning and accessing essential services.
Type: Technology Literacy and Access
Iu-Mien American Association
Community Enrichment through Technology
Purchase computers to provide low income Laotian families basic technology literacy training, particularly school-aged children, seniors, and those who lack adequate skills or knowledge to be employable.
Type: Technology Literacy and Access
Jack Straw Foundation
Language and Technology: English Language Learners
Enable English Language Learners at the Seattle World School to increase their English literacy, while learning to use portable and computer-based audio technology. Students will write, perform, and record stories around cultural traditions and community issues
Type: Technology Literacy and Access
Low Income Housing Institute
Computer Access for Low Income Residents
Upgrade 6 computer labs located in low income housing buildings and create infrastructure to continue the Computer Technology and Job Search Training Program by building a volunteer database to track volunteers and residents participating in the program.
Type: Technology Literacy and Access
Neighborhood House
Technology Pathways to Self-Sufficiency Program
Promote economic independence and housing stability among low-income Seattle residents in Rainier Vista and High Point through basic computer training, job readiness programs, ESL and citizenship classes, financial education and coaching, and connections to safe and stable housing. The program will focus on individuals and families who are both unemployed and homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
Type: Technology Literacy and Access
Powerful Voices
ActiveVistas
Provide a 12-week employment program to prepare low-income girls of color, ages 14 to 18, to utilize technology as a civic engagement tool. Participants work with mentors to develop multimedia presentations on social justice topics impacting their lives and neighborhoods and present them at the Girlvolution Conference.
Type: Civic Engagement
SightConnection
Get Connected Assistive Technology Program
Help older adults with vision loss become more independent and healthy overall by improving their proficiency with assistive technology in a hands-on learning lab.
Type: Technology Literacy and Access
Southeast Seattle Senior Center
Bridging the Senior Divide
Upgrade the computer lab in the Senior Center to provide computer literacy training for ethnically diverse seniors in Rainier Valley and Beacon Hill.
Type: Technology Literacy and Access
The Jefferson Terrace Computer Lab Committee / Seattle Housing Authority
Clicking: “A Way to Connect with Digital Learning”
Provide open lab time for the low income residents of Jefferson Terrace and offer basic and intermediate computer instruction in multiple languages. Funds will add digital media class instruction for photography and video.
Type: Technology Literacy and Access
Umoja PEACE Center
Umoja Transmedia Development Lab
Provide valuable access to digital content creation equipment including hardware and software, training and workshops for young people and community members to develop media production skills.
Type: Technology Literacy and Access
Washington Community Alliance for Self-Help
Tech Workshops for Immigrant/Refugee entrepreneurs
Purchase equipment and provide technology literacy trainings for low income entrepreneurs in Spanish, English and East African languages.
