Austin Partner Archives - Community Tech Network

Senior Connect Update

Kami Griffiths — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 12:39:44 +0000

Last spring, we officially launched our Texas-based program Senior Connect — a collaboration between Senior Access, AGE of Central Texas, and CTN. Replicating nearly all aspects of our Home Connect program, Senior Connect is set to train 150 older adults to navigate the internet and utilize digital tools. With initial funding from Capital Area Council on Governments (CAPCOG), we met our original goal of training 50 referred learners between May and August. As the program continues to evolve and expand with new funding sources, we are proud to share an update of the program’s progress and implementation over its first couple of months! Program Administration Each organization played a distinct role in establishing, supporting, and maintaining the Senior Connect program. AGE of Central Texas provided the overall program administration and execution. Its staff managed and assigned trainers to the learners, prepared and delivered the training materials and tablets, maintained the database, provided troubleshooting, and reported status updates to CAPCOG. CTN staff developed the training materials in several languages, including English, Spanish, Mandarin, Korean, and Vietnamese. We provided the training materials for new trainers and helped “shadow” new trainers on their first lessons to help guide and answer any questions. CTN also […]

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Learner Spotlight: Patricia Blaine

Anna Beth Lane — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 18:57:03 +0000

“I’m so grateful for this opportunity to reach the world through my tablet!” says Senior Connect learner Patricia Blaine. Born in Philadelphia, Patricia describes herself as a gypsy who has lived all over the place. With a husband in the Air Force, she spent time in Detroit, Nebraska, and Japan before winding up in Austin in 1971. A dedicated wife and mother throughout her life, Patricia Blaine is a performer at heart. Singing is her life’s vocation and great passion. Before having children, she worked as a professional singer and had made albums with the Motown group Challenger 3. Today, the 78-year-old Patricia is just as enthusiastic about singing as ever. She now wants to share that passion with the world via YouTube. To gain new digital skills and fully embrace the benefits of the internet, Patricia joined our Senior Connect program at our Texas-based partner, Senior Access. She dived right into the curriculum, unafraid to explore or make mistakes. With the help and support of her digital literacy instructor at Senior Access, Sylvain Lacasse, Patricia felt confident in navigating her tablet. “Mr. Sylvain was very patient with me,” reflects Patricia. “He really showed me what different things meant. I […]

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Connecting Seniors in Central Texas

Kami Griffiths — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 14:06:37 +0000

When the pandemic hit, Community Tech Network quickly changed its focus to support older adults who lack home internet access. We built a new program, called Home Connect, thanks to our longstanding partnership with the Department of Disability and Aging Services in San Francisco, who funded the staff time to develop it. Local foundations and corporations covered the cost of tablets provided to seniors. As we built and improved this program, we started sharing our knowledge with other agencies across the country. Several groups in Austin, Texas, were the first to participate in our training for trainers program. Through participation in the Social Inclusion Task Force in Austin, CTN developed partnerships with a few agencies that were interested in using our curriculum and replicating our Home Connect model. These agencies were awarded grants to address the social isolation experienced by older adults as a result of the stay-at-home order and participated in CTN’s training program to get started. This led to the creation of Senior Connect, a collaboration between Senior Access, AGE of Central Texas, and CTN. Replicating nearly all aspects of the Home Connect program, Senior Connect has secured enough funding to provide 150 older adults in Central Texas […]

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Austin Social Inclusion Task Force

Kami Griffiths — Fri, 23 Oct 2020 02:00:40 +0000

Since the pandemic’s arrival, the digital divide among older adults has become a significant barrier to helping them access programs and services only accessible remotely through technology. This situation spotlights the urgent need to equip vulnerable populations at higher risk for social isolation with technology resources. The Aging Services Council of Central Texas (ASC) felt there needed to be a coordinated effort to address the digital inequity among older adults to help combat social isolation and its effects on health and quality of life. In May, the ASC reached out to potential partners committed to digital equity for older adults, resulting in the formation of the Austin Social Inclusion Task Force. CTN was asked to join this collaborative working group composed of representatives from local and national senior services organizations, the City of Austin, and the University of Texas at Austin. The task force has identified the most significant barriers to digital literacy training and created and conducted a technology needs survey, the results of which can be viewed here (PDF). Based in part on the survey results, the task force is committed to advocate for policy changes, increased funding, support for further research, and increasing collaboration and awareness with government, […]

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Kami Griffiths Hosts Digital Inclusion Week Webinar October 5

John Stock — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 05:24:03 +0000

Photo – Screen grab from the webinar It’s been over six months since the pandemic left us sheltering in place. Everything about how we live and work has changed. By now, most nonprofits have been able to move their programming online, but that does not help people with limited or no internet access or who lack the digital skills to participate. This situation prompted Kami Griffiths, executive director and co-founder of Community Tech Network, to develop and host a webinar for the Austin community on October 5. It was called “Connecting the Unconnected: Programming in the Age of COVID-19,” and you can see the recording here. The webinar kicked off Digital Inclusion Week in Austin, which included several events during the week of October 5 – 9 to raise awareness of solutions that address home internet access, personal devices, and local technology training and support. The webinar, designed for nonprofit program management and client-facing staff, taught participants how to document obstacles existing in their communities that keep their clients offline. It helped them understand this data and increased their comfort level in communicating it to stakeholders who affect policy and provide funding. In addition, the attendees learned specific, immediate steps they can follow […]

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Registration Open for Digital Inclusion Week Webinar

John Stock — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 18:39:10 +0000

It’s been over 6 months since the pandemic has left us sheltering in place. Everything about how we live and work has changed. By now, most nonprofits have been able to move their programming online, but that does not help people with limited or no internet access or who lack the digital skills to participate online. In partnership with the Digital Empowerment Community of Austin (DECA) a webinar titled “Connecting the Unconnected: Programming in the Age of COVID-19” will be delivered by CTN’s Executive Director and Co-founder, Kami Griffiths. Webinar participants will: Learn how to document the needs that exist in your community that keep your clients from participating online. Understand ways to communicate the data to stakeholders who can affect policy and provide funding. Hear immediate next steps that can be followed to help your community get connected. Feel more empowered to make Digital Equity a priority in Central Texas. The webinar will be held on Monday, October 5 at 2 pm (Central Time). Participation is limited to 100. Although open to all, the information provided will be more relative to the Austin and Central Texas area. Follow this link to register. Digital Inclusion Week is a program of the National […]

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Digital Inclusion Week 2019

Kami Griffiths — Wed, 18 Sep 2019 15:01:48 +0000

Digital Inclusion Week (DIW) lead by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) aims to raise awareness of solutions addressing home internet access, personal devices, and local technology training and support programs. This year there are activities in dozens of cities across the United States as well as internationally. In Austin, Community Tech Network is one of several nonprofits with special activities planned. The Digital Empowerment Community of Austin (DECA) has put together a calendar of events you can follow to stay involved. In Austin on Thursday, October 10th DECA, Google Fiber and CTN invite all nonprofit staff, volunteers, partners and funders working to close the digital divide in Austin. As part of Digital Inclusion Week, this event will showcase some of the great work happening throughout the city. Learn about organizations that serve youth, job seekers, older adults and parents. Together, we’re helping people get online, acquire devices, or gain digital skills. You can expect time to network as well as delicious food provided by Google Fiber and drinks provided by Tito’s Handmade Vodka and Real Ale. Join us and RSVP on Eventbrite now! If you’re interested in volunteering for events this week, or in the future, please send an email to […]

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Digital Device Drop-in Program Meeting Huge Need in Austin

Jessica Looney — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 14:42:28 +0000

CTN volunteer Andrea Romero spends her Mondays with other volunteers at the Terrazas Branch of Austin Public Library teaching people experiencing homelessness (PEH) basic phone literacy skills and how to use Google Voice. “The new Digital Device Drop-in Training is meeting a huge need in the community,” she says, “and I have had great feedback from the learners I have worked with! We provide a friendly, drop-in helpdesk for the homeless residents of Austin to get help with their digital devices, and we teach them how to use those devices to improve their quality of life. I feel fortunate to be a part of CTN and this program because I am able to see the positive impact it is making firsthand.” This collaborative pilot program run by CTN and the City of Austin Innovation Office hopes that, by using Google Voice accounts, members of the PEH community can maintain consistent access to social services and networks despite a lack of or change in mobile device. The six-month Drop-in Digital Device Training pilot began in July and already has a healthy number of participants. The goal is to serve 25 to 30 PEH learners by the program’s end on December 9. […]

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CTN Teams Up with City of Austin to Deliver Digital Skills to People Experiencing Homelessness

Jessica Looney — Thu, 13 Jun 2019 03:41:39 +0000

CTN has teamed up with the City of Austin Innovation Office to teach people experiencing homelessness (PEH) to use Google Voice so they could maintain connections with service and social networks even when their phones are lost, broken, or stolen. The goal of this pilot program is to generate evidence about the viability and feasibility of improving service outcomes by increasing PEH digital literacy and use of cloud-based communications services through a volunteer learning program. The Innovation Office will use the evidence generated by this work to make recommendations on investing further in this approach. CTN will train and place volunteers at the Austin Public Library’s Terrazas branch from July to November 2019, with the intent to serve between 25 and 30 learners during the term. Volunteers will be prepared to teach basic digital literacy skills and answer personal device questions, with the ultimate goal of encouraging the use of Google Voice. Community Engagement Lead for the city’s Innovation Team, Daniel Culotta, is excited to get the program off the ground: “The Innovation Office is very excited about this program. Our years of work in this space has shown that people experiencing homelessness often lack familiarity with a few key technologies that […]

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Bring Your Own Device Day (BYOD) with Adobe @ Northloop

Jessica Looney — Thu, 02 May 2019 13:36:05 +0000

On Friday, April 29, residents from Family Eldercare’s Northloop Apartments joined Adobe volunteers to receive digital skills training for a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) day. Adobe recently partnered with CTN to offer quarterly Tech Teach-In (TTI) opportunities for adult learners in locations around central Texas. Adobe has contributed over $57 million in community giving and has a variety of programs that encourage employees to volunteer in their communities. Adobe supports volunteer efforts by giving the volunteers funds and opportunities to take action in their local communities. For every hour a team member donates, Adobe provides a cash match and a potential grant to the nonprofit they volunteered for. Adobe Austin Action Team Committee Lead Tamera Davis recruited nine volunteers for this TTI event and will continue the recruitment for future events. “Community Tech Network is working hard in central Texas to close the digital gap, and Adobe is proud to to be a partner in this effort. Everyone deserves the opportunity to learn how to use a device, whether it is to connect with family and friends, to listen to music, or to research and enroll in programs to enrich their lives.” Residents brought tablets, smartphones, and laptops to have their […]

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