Septmber 6, 1999

A computer in every living room
Program wires low-income homes

By Mark Walsh

Bringing low-income New York City families into the digital age is the goal of a pilot program launching this fall.

Beginning in October, the Manhattan-based nonprofit Computers for Youth will begin placing computers and modems donated by local firms into the homes and schools of disadvantaged city students. Besides receiving the equipment, recipients will get training and technical support provided by CFY in conjunction with private technology companies and tech-savvy high school students.

The first beneficiaries will be 220 families whose children attend the KIPP Academy, a South Bronx public middle school.

The program's home-centered approach is intended to encourage intergenerational learning, as technically adept students teach parents how to use computers.

"By placing computers in the home, we're treating the family as one learning unit," says Elisabeth Stock, executive director of CFY, which plans to launch www.cfy.org this week.

Digital divide
Despite falling computer prices, the digital divide remains wide between affluent and poor households, and between whites and nonwhites. A recent Department of Commerce study found that among those earning $15,000 to $20,000 annually, more than 32% of white families owned computers, compared with 19% of black and Hispanic families.

Access to computer technology in schools is better, but New York City schools are far from being paragons of high-tech learning. There are only 7.7 computers for every 100 students in the system, and nearly 75% of the computers in city schools are so old they cannot run most new software, according to a 1996-97 state Education Department report.

To get inner-city families connected, Ms. Stock is enlisting the help of private and nonprofit firms. She expected to have 330 used computers, donated by companies including Israel Discount Bank and law firm Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, by Labor Day. Only 486s or later models are accepted. CFY has also raised over $100,000 from entities such as George Soros' Open Society Institute, Home Box Office and Citigroup.