City of Seattle NOTE: This news release has been retained for historical use ONLY!  While the text was accurate at the date of the release, the contact information may be out of date.

NEWS ADVISORY
SUBJECT:   City Awards Funds for Community Technology Projects
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:    8/7/2000	FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: David Keyes (206) 386-9759 Angel Lamar (206) 386-1103 Kathy Sugiyama  (206) 684-0909

Seattle Awards Funds To Help Close The Digital Divide
Nine community projects to receive funds

SEATTLE — The Seattle City Council today approved funding for nine Technology Matching Fund Projects totaling $142,000, which will be matched by community resources amounting to more than $376,000. This year’s awards mark the third year of the program.

The Technology Matching Fund is a key component of the city’s citizens’ technology literacy and access program whose goal is to help close the digital divide. The Fund supports citizen-driven projects that build capacity in technologically-underserved communities.

"I’m excited about this funding so that we can open our computer lab for longer periods of time and we can add a class for instruction in Spanish. With community access, we’re slowly chipping away at the digital divide, especially for those folks who don’t have access in their homes," says Estela Ortega, coordinator of the Computer Literacy Center at El Centro de la Raza.

El Centro de La Raza’s Computer Literacy Center received $12,236 in technology matching funds to increase the computer literacy among Latinos in Seattle and in the Beacon Hill community.

"It’s exciting to see the Technology Matching Fund fulfill it’s mission of reaching out to Seattle’s diverse communities and helping people achieve their goals. The technology projects we are partnering with today exemplify the innovative ways in which the City and it’s communities can come together to improve the lives of our citizens," said City Councilmember Jim Compton, chair of the Public Safety and Technology Committee.

Through its matching fund, the Phinney Neighborhood Association (PNA)will undertake a project to become the first major community technology center in north Seattle.

"We're a community center. We see opening a computer lab as another way for people to come together and interact with each other, whether the neighbors are real or virtual. We are also looking for intergenerational tutoring between kids and seniors," says Ann Bowden, PNA development director.

There were 18 applications for this year’s funds, requesting a total of more than $363,000. Recommendations for funding projects are made by the Citizens Telecommunications and Technology Advisory Board (CTTAB).

"In our rush to congratulate ourselves as a high-tech center, we often forget that there are many in Seattle who are left out of the technology boom. The Technology Matching Fund that CTTAB administers helps address these needs. This round of grants jumpstarts five major efforts and assists several others. All of Seattle’s citizens benefit from a more computer-literate and technologically-sophisticated populace," says Jerry Whiting, CTTAB member, and president and CEO of Azalea Software.

Following are the community groups, and their projects, approved for funding this year:

Ethiopian Community Computer Resources Center – Ethiopian Community Mutual Association
Equip community center with up to date computer systems and peripherals for training and Internet access.
Funding: $36,200 (Community match: $49,300)

PNA Computer Technology Center – Phinney Neighborhood Association
Establish computer technology center with 11 computers providing public access to the Internet and basic literacy training. The center will include public access terminals and a lab.
Funding: $25,666 (Community match: $47,943)

Rainier Vista Technology & Resource Center - Rainier Vista Leadership Team
Expand the resources of the Job Resource Center's Computer lab to enable production of Powerpoint multimedia learning materials, to include ESL/ABE software and to expand availability to the surrounding neighborhoods of SE Seattle.
Funding: $21,000 (Community Match $53,760)

Computer Power Learning System - Intergenerational Innovations
Improve access to basic technology skills for seniors via middle and high school student teachers. Create learning manuals for use by students and seniors.
Funding: $14,800 (Community match: $29,960)

Connecting Seattle - WA State Neighborhood Networks Consortium
Expand Connecting Seattle - connecting computer labs in low income housing complexes to new computers and Internet access.
Funding: $13,000 (Community match: $26,424)

El Centro De La Raza Computer Literacy Center - El Centro de la Raza
Increase computer literacy among Latinos in Seattle and the Beacon Hill community. Expand classes and hours that the computer lab is open. Increase marketing effort.
Funding: $12,236 (Community match: $117,822)

Symposium on Art, Law and New Technologies - Washington Lawyers for the Arts
Provide an interdisciplinary symposium on legal and business issues encountered by artists producing musical, literary and mixed media creation including film, video, television, broadband, Internet and digital technology in general.
Funding: $9,600 (Community match: $14,300)

Planning Grant - Oral History Project - SCAN - Seattle Community Access Television, Inc.
Plan an ongoing neighborhood intergenerational oral history project to be produced through the public access cable television facility and to include a web component.
Funding: $5,000 (Community match: $31,560)

Historias del Familias - Jack Straw Productions & Kimball Elementary PTSA
Work with families and Spanish speaking children at Kimball mentored by high school students and professional artists to create oral histories of their families.
Funding: $4,400 (Community match: $5,125)

The committee’s recommendations were endorsed by CTTAB and approved by Mayor Paul Schell and the City Council.

CTTAB is a 15-member volunteer board appointed by the Mayor and City Council. CTTAB’s purpose is to advise the Mayor and City Council on issues of community-wide interest relating to telecommunications and technology.

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Department of Information Technology

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