REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 3, 1999 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the first round of Connected Learning Community (CLC) grants for 1999, supporting technology access projects at 12 nonprofit organizations across the country. The CLC grant program awards cash and software on a local level, with the goal of enhancing learning and communication with information technology for disadvantaged communities.
Among the current grants, four will fund innovative access and training programs for residents of low-income housing, and two will support interactive science and technology projects at science museums.
“With leadership from Microsoft’s local sales offices, we have identified and helped fund 12 extraordinary projects during this CLC grant cycle,”
said Barbara Dingfield, director of community affairs at Microsoft.
“What makes this program special is the commitment from local Microsoft employees to provide ongoing support and volunteer work to CLC grant winners.”
Microsoft funds and software will bring new opportunities for economic self-sufficiency to public housing residents in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. The Hayes Valley Computer Learning Center in San Francisco will purchase 10 multimedia computers and children’s software. In addition, the grant will provide productivity software for the networked computers in each Hayes Valley resident’s home. The Edgewood Terrace in Washington, D.C., located just east of Capitol Hill in an area with the second-highest unemployment rate in the District of Columbia, will use its grant to link every apartment to the Residential Network and provide users with a variety of software, including e-mail.
An earlier CLC grant helped Edgewood Terrace, operated by the Community Preservation and Development Corp., equip two community computer labs. Two other organizations, Eastmont Computing Center in Oakland, Calif., and Hope Computer Center in Memphis, Tenn., received grants for activities and upgrading of computer labs that provide Internet access and computer instruction for low-income residents.
The Science Museum of Minnesota will cooperate with other local groups to establish Studio 3D, a computer clubhouse for youths ages 10 to 18 from inner-city neighborhoods in St. Paul, Minn. Similarly, the Rochester Museum and Science Center in Rochester, N.Y., provides disadvantaged youth with access to computer technology and will use funding to train teen computer coaches and adult instructors to lead computer learning activities.
Microsoft’s regional sales offices work with public and nonprofit organizations to develop grant requests for up to $15,000 per project, most of which also include software donations. Begun in 1996, the CLC program has awarded a total of $1 million in cash and an estimated $2 million in retail-valued software to 74 organizations in 21 states and the District of Columbia.
Following is a list of recent CLC grant recipients. A full description of each funded project is available at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/ .
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Eastmont Computing Center, Oakland, Calif.
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Hayes Valley Computer Learning Center, San Francisco
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Scottdale Child Development and Family Technology Resource Center, Scottdale, Ga.
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Patriot’s Trail Girl Scout Council, Girl Scout Computer Clubhouse, Boston
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Science Museum of Minnesota, for Studio 3D (digital design and development) computer clubhouse, St. Paul, Minn.
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WTVI-TV Channel 42’s
“Ready to Learn”
educational outreach project, Charlotte, N.C. -
Alexander Children’s Center, Charlotte, N.C.
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Rochester Museum and Science Center, Science Linkages in the Community, Rochester, N.Y.
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Easter Seals Society, for a new Assistive Technology Center, Philadelphia
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Hope Computer Center, Memphis, Tenn.
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Community Preservation and Development Corp., Edgewood Terrace housing complex, Washington, D.C.
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College Bound, College Preparation Center, Washington, D.C.
For more information on Microsoft giving, see http://www.microsoft.com/giving/ .
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
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