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Family SupportNet News
Issue 8 - Spring 2004
Thanks to all the local technology centers that hosted classes for the Family SupportNet Project!
Family SupportNet Project students in classes at local technology centers throughout the metro Boston area.
After three years, the Family SupportNet Project has ended. During the project a wide array of community- and faith-based organizations referred individuals with developmental disabilities and their family members for basic computer skills lessons. Members from Latino, Asian, African-American, and Sub-Saharan African communities attended classes in their neighborhoods. People took lessons in a variety of settings, ranging from public libraries and local technology centers to YMCAs, One-Stop Career Centers, and diverse faith- and community-based organizations.
Upon completing the Family SupportNet Project course, students could use Microsoft Word and email to communicate with friends, family, and professionals, and use the Internet to look up disability-related resources. Students from traditionally underserved communities increased their information and knowledge and found new outlets for themselves such as writing, emailing electronic pen pals, and finding medical information for their families.
Many thanks to all the enthusiastic students who attended classes, as well as staff at the local organizations who identified and referred students for lessons. Thanks also to organizations and private nonprofit companies who donated computers to some students. They were Best Buddies, SHARE Foundation, Easter Seals, and Work Inc. Thanks to all the sites that hosted classes for Family SupportNet Project-- without your assistance, we could not have held classes for people in their neighborhoods.
-- Meredith Aalto, Paula Sotnik
Here are some updates:
Codman Square Technology Center in Dorchester, MA is identifying, designing, developing and pilot-testing up to six 12-week Community Tech Courses teaching key technical skills and understandings useful to neighborhood children, families, adults, and nonprofit organizations. Each course will be directed at a cluster of competencies and will result in a "community tech certification." Examples of such certifications include Computer System Buyer/Installer, Computer User, Desktop Publisher, Desktop Presenter, Internet User, and Web Builder. The courses will become part of the center's offerings. For more information, visit www.tech4us.org/edtechprograms.shtml or call 617/822-8269. (Wheelchair accessible, no TTY or email available.)
Somerville Technology Center in Somerville, MA offers courses in computer basics, common office applications, the Internet, and more at reasonable prices. Additional low-cost workshops are offered periodically on topics such as buying a computer and using the Internet to search for jobs. The course schedule will be posted on the Somerville Technology Center website at www.sc3.org or call 617/629-2933. (No TTY or email available.)
The South End Technology Center @ Tent City (The Tech Center) is a collaborative venture between the Tent City Corporation and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Its fundamental purpose is to enable people to become producers of knowledge and sharers of ideas and information. The center's scope and methods are as diverse as the people it serves. The Tech Center provides free or low-cost access and training in most aspects of computer-related information technology. The staff members, mostly volunteers, have extensive backgrounds in computer technology and their applications. Among the goals of the Tech Center are:
- Recruit and train people in computer technology who have been excluded from the technological revolution and are at increasing risk of joblessness
- Encourage community residents to use information technology as a means of personal and professional development
- Help residents move from being consumers of information to producers/creators of knowledge
For more information visit the Tech Center website at www.tech-center-enlightentcity.tv/pages or call 617/578-0597. (Wheelchair accessible, no TTY or email available.)
Community Access sites are overseen by disabilityexchange.org, a program of the Community Information Network for Individuals with Disabilities (CINID) at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. The Community Access sites are in strategic public locations throughout the Boston metro area. They offer free access to computers, hardware, software, and adaptive devices that address various limitations to computer use and Internet access in the areas of mobility, visual, and cognitive impairments. The adaptive devices deployed at the sites include (but are not limited to) adjustable workstations; software that converts text into speech; and alternative keyboards that enables people with physical, visual, or cognitive disabilities to easily type, enter numbers, navigate on-screen displays, and execute menu commands. For more information, find an Access site near you:
Flagship Site
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
Patient and Family Resource Center
125 Nashua Street, 2nd Floor
Boston, MA 02114
617-573-2186 / 2187
For TTY messages, call 1-800=439-2370 and leave your message
Boston Public Libraries
The Central Boston Public Library (Copley Square)
Access Services - Concourse Level, Johnson Building
700 Boylston Street
Boston MA 02117
617-536-5400 ext. 2295
617-536-7055 (TTY) -- for all branch inquiries
Wheelchair accessible
Brighton Branch Library
40 Academy Hill Road
Brighton, MA 02135
617-782-6032
Wheelchair accessible
Codman Square Branch Library
690 Washington Street
Dorchester, MA 02124
617-436-8214
Wheelchair accessible
Dudley Branch Library
65 Warren Street
Roxbury, MA 02119
617-442-6186
Wheelchair accessible
YMCAs of Greater Boston
Central YMCA
International Learning Center
316 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
617-927-8244
Wheelchair accessible, no TTY or email available
Oak Square YMCA
615 Washington Street
Brighton, MA 02135
617-782-3535 voice and TTY
Wheelchair accessible
Burbank YMCA
36 Arthur B. Lord Drive
Reading, MA 01867
781-944-7989
Wheelchair accessible. No TTY, but email is available: jcennami@ymcaboston.org
Other Sites
Perkins Braille and Talking Book Library
175 North Street
Watertown, MA 02472
617-972-7249 / 800-852-3133
Wheelchair accessible, no TTY or email available
Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission
Downtown Boston Area Office
59 Temple Place, Suite 905
Boston, MA 02111
617-357-8137 voice and TTY
Wheelchair accessible
Call or email Meredith Aalto for information about Family SupportNet
meredith.aalto@umb.edu
(617) 287-4331 (V)
(617) 287-4350 (TTY)
Institute for Community Inclusion
100 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, MA 02125
You can continue to visit the Family SupportNetWebsite at: www.ici.umb.edu/family Resources include information and links about Disability Resources, Global Communities, ESL, Healthcare, Family Activities, FSN Newsletter, List serves, Searches and MUCH MORE!!
The Family SupportNet Project, award #90DN0074, is a three-year Project of National Significance funded by the Department of Health and Human services, Administration for Children and Families, and Administration on Developmental Disabilities.
Family SupportNet is a project of the Institute for Community Inclusion in partnership with the Department of Mental Retardation, Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council, and Community Based Minority Organizations (CBMOs)
