Here's a quick update of news and information regarding Technology For All and our collaborative efforts to bring technology and the opportunities it provides to underserved communities. We hope this assists in your understanding of what we do to make the world a better place. Important information for Community Technology Centers (CTCs) and nonprofits is located at the bottom. If you like this newsletter, please e-mail it to a friend.
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News and Updates

Join "Club Ten" --- The day to day achievement of our mission is not be possible without the annual support of our Board members and friends. Each day an estimated 35,000 persons across the United States benefit from TFA's work. Expenses for day to day operations after grants, fees for service and other revenue is approximately three cents a day per person served. Sustainability of that work depends on your contribution. We have set a goal to recruit 3500 persons to make an annual committment to support at least 10 persons per day ($.30/day) for a 2003 gift of at least $109.25. "Club Ten" members will receive monthly email updates and invitations to meet persons who benefit by participating in community events with TFA program partners. New "Club Ten" members will be listed each month in the "Occasional Update" beginning in May. To Join "Club Ten" click on the link below, make a gift of at least $109.25, and indicate "Club Ten membership" in the "comments" section. https://app.etapestry.com/happ1/Technology%20For%20All/OnlineGivingCreditCard.html You can also join "Club Ten" by sending a check for $109.25 or more to Technology For All, 109 North Post Oak Lane, Suite 425, Houston, Texas 77024. Our first "Club Ten" member has made an annual commitment of $1,200 and is sponsoring 110 persons for Houston area activities.

Advisory Board Under Development for Milby --- TFA-Houston's Misión Milby Community Technology center (MMCTC) in collaboration with the Misión Milby CDC in Houston's East End serves a vital function in the Pecan Park Super Neighborhood where 64% of the adult population over 25 has not obtained a high school diploma or GED. Over half the families in the community live below the poverty level. To guide our work in the community, an advisory board is under development. Persons recruited to serve on the Advisory Board include TFA-Houston's board chair, Janet Horn; along with Rose Ann Blanco, Director of the LULAC National Educational Service Center; Joseph Rodriguez, Ph.D., Founder and Chair of the East End Education Project; Olga Flores, D.Ed., Dean of Student Development, Houston Community College, Southeast; and Kent Sullivan, Board Chair of the Milby United Methodist Church. As an example of their commitment to Misión Milby, Dr. Rodriguez and Rose Ann Blanco assisted in a recent collaborative grant proposal to the Texas Education Agency that, if funded, would provide for summer and after-school programs serving at-risk youth from Milby High School and Deady Middle School.

Eighty-Plus TFA Affiliated CTCs Submit Beaumont Foundation Grant Proposals --- The days prior to April 1 generated a flurry of phone activity in the TFA/TFA-Houston office as TFA affiliated organizations from Texas, TFA-Colorado, California, Hawaii, Oregon and other states worked with our staff to complete Beaumont Foundation of America grant proposals. Based upon the calls received, we estimate that between eighty and ninety affiliated CTCs submitted proposals for new Toshiba wireless laptop labs. According to reports from the Foundation, over 8,000 proposals were received from across the U.S. It is estimated that approximately 12-18% of the proposals will receive Beaumont Foundation grants. During 2004, CTCs in "Group B" states will be able to apply for grants. For more information, go to ....... http://www.bmtfoundation.org .TFA is a Beaumont Foundation alliance partner. (http://www.bmtfoundation.com/alliances/)
Article Now Online --- "Building CTC Capacity Through Service Learning and University Partnerships" is the title of the article recently published in the Spring 2003 Community Technology Review. Collaborating authors were Cheryl Willis, Ph.D. and Karla Back, Ph.D. of the University of Houston College of Technology and TFA's Dr. Will Reed. To review the article go to........
http://www.comtechreview.org/article_body_spr03.asp?article_ID=217

Computer Donations Needed --- If your corporation is replacing computers, consider donating those computers to TFA for redeployment in the development of community technology centers serving low-income communities and in "learn and earn" programs. Computer donations are needed in Houston and other cities across the nation. For more information click on http://www.houston.techforall.org/donations.html or contact Douglas Caldwell by phone (713.961.0012) or email (Douglas.Caldwell@techforall.org ).

New Organizations Utilizing TFA Services --- In addition to large groups of TFA affiliated organizations in Colorado, Ohio and Texas, the 350+ organizations utilizing TFA services also include new organizations like Parents and Childen Together in Honolulu, Hawaii and the Yurok Tribe in Klamath, California. For a listing of local communities served by TFA affiliated community technology centers go to http://www.techforall.org/subpages/connected.html

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Grants and Awards

HP Awards Community Technology Grant to Mision Milby --- TFA-Houston recently received notice that the CTC at Misión Milby (MMCTC) was awarded an HP Community Technology Grant. The grant will provide 20 computers, flat screen monitors, a server, printers, digital cameras, scanners and other equipment. The total value of this new equipment grant, which will be installed by HP volunteers, is almost $70,000. The grant will dramatically enhance our ability to serve the community around the MMCTC.

HISD and TFA-Houston Collaborate on Community Outreach --- Technology For All-Houston (TFA-Houston) recently received word from HISD that a collaborative "TARGET" grant proposal had been funded by the Texas Education Agency. Working as a liason between HISD and affiliated CTCs, TFA-Houston will oversee the community outreach portion of the three-year grant. "TARGET" is an acronym that refers to Technology Applications Readiness Grants for Empowering Texas. The HISD grant proposal will target twenty (20) low performing middle and high schools and create school/community programs in collaboration with CTCs to help students improve math and science skills. In addition to the students, parents will be included in the program through community outreach activities at the CTCs. The TARGET program will be developed and tested first in the community around Misión Milby. TFA-Houston's portion of the $900,000/year grant is almost $60,000.

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Important Info for CTCs and CBOs

Request For Computer Applications Due --- Houston organizations making requests for computers and other TFA-Houston services are reminded that the deadline for the online portion of the application process ends on April 25th. For more information go to http://houston.techforall.org/submenus/request.html or call Pam Gardner at 713.961.0012.

Measuring What Works in Afterschool
Two new papers, commissioned by The Children's Roundtable at the Brookings Institution, address the impact of afterschool programs. "The Growth in After-School Programs and Their Impact" by Rob Hollister documents the effectiveness of certain afterschool programs. The second paper, "Determining 'What Works' in Social Programs and Social Policies:Toward a More Inclusive Knowledge Base," by Lisbeth Schorr, explains the need to diversify approaches to implementing programs in order to better achieve desired community-wide outcomes. [Middleweb] http://www.brook.edu/es/research/projects/cr/cr.htm

New Report Identifies Challenges, Opportunities for Technology-Related Grantmaking --- According to a new study from Summit Collaborative ( http://www.summitcollaborative.com ), an Amherst, Massachusetts-based network of organizations working to build the power of nonprofit organizations, grantmakers can substantially increase the impact of their technology-related funding, even in the current economic climate. Designed for grantmakers, but important for nonprofits to know, from Obstacles to Opportunities V. 1.0 presents six core elements of successful technology funding, including determined leadership with the vision and fortitude to promote and support appropriate technology use and innovation; active learning through assessment and evaluation; opportunities for dynamic collaboration between nonprofits, intermediaries, and funders to leverage experience and resources; strategic technology use that is mission-based; and effective intermediaries who support nonprofit use of technology. The study also presents specific action opportunities and a new taxonomy for technology-related grantmaking. "Funders are really interested in understanding what the social impacts are of their technology-related grants," said Marc Osten, a co-author of the study. "Their experience has shown that helping nonprofits use technology in strategic ways to forward mission is quite challenging." To download the full study (62 pages, PDF), visit... http://www.summitcollaborative.com/From 20Obstacles to Opportunities.pdf

Idealist.org Names Top 10 Sites for Nonprofits --- 1. Foundation Center http://www.fdncenter.org ; 2) Guidestar http://www.guidestar.org ; 3) Idealist http://www.idealist.org ; 4) Gilbert Center http://news.gilbert.org ; 5) Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership http://www.nonprofitbasics.org ; 6) Putnam Barber's site http://www.nonprofits.org/npofaq ; 7) Network for Good http://www.networkforgood.org ; 8) Service Leader http://www.serviceleader.org ; 9) Tech Soup http://www.techsoup.org ; and 10) Volunteer Match http://www.volunteermatch.org

Play, Create, and Recreate! --- This imaginative online playhouse, developed by the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, invites users to draw a picture, compose a story, solve a puzzle, and more. Beyond these interactive games for "players" of all ages, features include the histories of famous and not-so-famous inventors and video interviews with child development experts on the essential role of play in learning. http://www.si.edu/lemelson/centerpieces/oap/index.html

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Websites of Interest to CTCs

Digital Equity Portal --- Recently launched, the Digital Equity Portal presents a collection of educational resources for K-Adults addressing inequitable access to technology tools, computers and the Internet. Each resource has been screened by experts in digital equity and professionally catalogued to help you find high quality material that addresses your specific needs.
http://digitalequity.edreform.net/home

Scholastic's Culture and Change: Black History in America --- This web site has star power. From an interview with Rosa Parks to an audio tour of the history of jazz led by Wynton Marsalis, the material on this site is original and engaging. Projects are designed for grades 3-8 and invite students to imagine how it would feel to be one of the Little Rock Nine or be asked to give up their seat on a segregated bus. Curriculum guides, assessments, and lesson plans pull great resource for After-School Programs together.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/

Hot Math --- Does your CTC work with middle or high school students who struggle with math? Hotmath.com provides free 24/7 help for kids' actual assigned work. Students simply choose their math textbook, type in a page number for hints and step-by-step tutorials for all the odd-numbered problems displayed there. Topics covered are Algebra 1 and 2, Geometry, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus. Represented textbooks include Prentice Hall, McDougal Littell/Houghton Mifflin, and all the major players.
http://www.hotmath.com

Community Technology Center's Network --- TFA encourages every organization involved in community technology to join CTCNet. In addition to a wealth of information on the website, CTCNet membership has many benefits.
http://www.ctcnet.org

Remember our Program Partners --- For a complete list of TFA and TFA-Houston program partners, go to http://www.techforall.org/partners.htm or to http://houston.techforall.org/submenus/partners.html

We welcome your feedback! Contact Will Reed at 713.316.5761 or by email at will.reed@techforall.org

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TECHNOLOGY FOR ALL/Technology For All-Houston
http://www.techforall.org | http://houston.techforall.org