CYC2.0 and CMHA ConnectHome - Computer Training Graduation

By Bill Callahan, Director, Connect Your Community 2.0

Twenty-two residents of CMHA's Scranton Castle, Crestview and Manhattan Tower Apartments celebrated their new computer and Internet skills -- and new home computer systems -- at a crowded graduation ceremony in the Scanton Castle Community Room on October 19th.

CYC2.0 Graduates from CMHA's Scranton Castle, Crestview
and Manhattan Tower Apartments, October 19th 2016.

Councilman Brian Cummins, Graduate Verna T. Bell
and CMHA Executive Director Jeffery Patterson. 

The graduates represented the first two classes of West Side CMHA participants in basic computer and Internet training, offered through a partnership between Ward 14's Connect Your Community Center and CMHA's "Connect Home" program. Each graduate received a diploma certifying his or her new skills along with a free, refurbished desktop computer system, donated to the CYC Center by CMHA's information technology department.



Several dozen neighbors packed into the Community Room for the ceremony, along with CMHA Executive Director Jeffery Patterson and members of his staff, Ward 14 Councilman Brian Cummins, and representatives of the CYC Center and its parent organization, the Asbury Senior Computer Community Center.

Bill Callahan of the CYC Center, lead trainer Richard Moseley and Center volunteer Tracy Bucher spoke briefly about the training the graduates had received and urged other neighbors to sign up for the next round of classes.

Director Patterson, Councilman Cummins and ASC3 Exective Director Wanda Davis each addressed to the gathering about the urgency of closing Cleveland's digital divide, before formally presenting their diplomas and congratulations.

Trainer Richard Moseley and Bill Callahan , Director of CYC2.0

The Connect Your Community Center, located in the Brooklyn Center Plaza at Pearl and Archwood, has offered free basic computer training and Internet connection assistance to Ward 14 residents and other West Siders since 2014.

Councilman Cummins has supported the Center with Ward 14 funding since its inception with an interest to increase computer literacy in the surrounding neighborhoods.  Neighbors interested in taking classes can call the Center's voicemail at 216-548-8651, or check the website for schedule information.

CYC2.0 Graduates, family and friends congratulating each other!

In addition to the work being done by CYC2.0 and ASC3 on training, they also assist our broader community in tracking and advocating for digital inclusion with national partners.  For more information on those efforts see the CYC 2.0 web site and read this article - What’s digital exclusion and why does it matter?

Here is a map showing the challenges faced in our work with digital inclusion in Cleveland.  It shows the fixed broadband connections as a percentage households in Cleveland's 175 census tracts.  Cleveland joins the City of Detroit in having fewer than 40% of households served by fast DSL or cable Internet connections at the end of 2014 according to data filed with the Federal Communication Commission by Internet providers and mapped by CYC 2.0.

Updated maps show no-broadband majorities in
most Cleveland and Detroit neighborhoods