With its mission to serve millions of residents and its location in the heart of 10,000 communities, the YMCA is a key partner in Microsoft's effort to bridge the digital divide in the United States.
For 17 year-old Brandon Franklin and his peers in San Francisco's working-class Western Addition neighborhood, computers are an essential—if not always available—resource. "We need computers for schoolwork," says Brandon. "A lot of us probably don't have the finances to purchase a computer, or don't know how to do it." So Brandon and his friends use the computer lab at the Shih Yu-Lang Central YMCA in the nearby Tenderloin neighborhood. Not only is the facility free to use—the equipment is newer and faster than the computers at Brandon's school.
"Those computers at the Y are great. It's somewhere we just go to hang out, somewhere we feel comfortable. I take my homework and do it down there. I guarantee you, those computers get used every day."
Engaging At-Risk Youth
In January 2005, the Shih Yu Lang Central YMCA received cash and software through Microsoft's Unlimited Potential program. The organization will use the funding to upgrade the community computer center it established in 2002, and to provide computer and career training for adults and for youth like Brandon.
"Nearly 100 percent of the children in our after-school program come from families whose annual income is less than $25,000 a year," explains Carmela Gold, executive director of Shih Yu Lang. "The funding and technology provided by Microsoft will enable us to provide programs to nearly 150 youth from the Tenderloin and nearby neighborhoods."
Among the programs the Shih Yu Lang Central YMCA offers are a resumé-building seminar; a music lab where kids write and record their own hip hop songs; tutoring; and a computer refurbishing program. One six-month program, "Student Tech Corp," gives students the resources to finish middle and high school while promoting the use of technology for self-sufficiency and economic resiliency.
"An Unbelievable Portal"
Though it is two time zones and thousands of miles away from San Francisco, the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas has a mission statement not unlike that of Shih Yu Lang: "To help teenagers make the difficult transition to adulthood." President and CEO Gordon Echtenkamp says technology training and access can help facilitate that journey.
"It's an unbelievable portal for all the things they're going to need to be productive adults," he says. "It involves everything from developing job skills to developing self-mastery. With its longtime presence in the community, Echtenkamp says the YMCA is a fitting "third place" for kids to receive technical training.
"We're not a school. We're not a 'computer center'. We're 'the Y'—a safe place where families and kids already feel comfortable coming."
In July 2005, the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas received an Unlimited Potential grant of cash and software. The grant will be used to upgrade software in the organization's five computing centers and to hire new staff to implement a training curriculum at three of the centers.
A Natural Partnership
"The generosity of Microsoft's Unlimited Potential program is a vital step in eliminating the digital divide in this country," noted U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson when the grant to the Metropolitan Dallas YMCA was announced. "This program will allow individuals to receive the computer access and training that they may never have acquired."
Learn more about the YMCA's technology programs (ymca.net)
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