Technology Matching Fund Awards

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This past Monday, the Seattle City Council approved $320,000 in Technology Matching Funds to support twenty-four community technology projects across the city. 

The grants provide technological resources for youth and families, immigrants and refugees, seniors, people with disabilities and job seekers in support of 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.

Technology-Solutions-2

I’ve blogged before on how important these grants are in providing tools that can empower underserved communities with technology skills they can use for civic engagement, problem solving, and community building.

Some of the projects funded in the past are quite impressive. Such as the OneAmerica’s technology-based ESL classes for adult immigrants, which included providing subscriptions to LiveMocha, an online English language learning application. And Oromo Cultural Center Technology Project, which upgraded computers and provided training to Oromo, Somalian, Gambian, and East African adults to improve employment and economic opportunities.

Projects funded this year include:

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.
Award: $14,326 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.
Award: $15,000 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.
Award: $19,987 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.
Award: $10,260 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.
Award: $12,108 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.
Award: $13,014 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.
Award: $11,137 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.
Award: $11,335 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.
Award: $5,624 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.
Award: $15,000 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.
Award: $10,000 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.
Award: $19,400 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.
Award: $19,487 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.
Award: $17,699 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.
Award: $10,000 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
Award: $15,580 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.
Award: $15,000 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.
Award: $14,253 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.
Award: $8,277 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.
Award: $15,000 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.
Award: $6,938 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.
Award: $12,575 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.
Award: $15,000 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.
Award: $13,000 Type: Technology Literacy and Access

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