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Columbia University's Community Impact and West Harlem Group Assistance announce the opening of the Urban NET Computer Technology Center. Located at 500 West 134 Street, the center will benefit more than 1,000 community residents through youth and adult education programs.
The grand opening ceremony, happening on Thursday, Oct. 28 from 4: 45 p.m. to 6 p.m., will feature the following speakers:
Donald Notice, executive director, West Harlem Group Assistance
Sonia Reese, executive director, Community Impact, Columbia University
Lionel McIntyre, the Nancy and George Rupp Associate and professor, Columbia
University; director, Urban Technical Assistance Project
Dr. Eugene Callender, pastor, St. James Presbyterian Church
Ellen Smith, board chair, Community Impact; assistant vice president and director,
Columbia University Office of Government Relations
Magdalena Rodriguez, teacher, Urban NET
Tanya Franklin, Columbia College '05; coordinator, America Reads Program
Naimah Saeed, Urban NET student
The Urban NET (Urban Neighborhood Empowerment through Technology) computer lab aims to provide low-income residents of West Harlem with access to technology. The facility—designed by students from Columbia's Fu Foundation School of Engineering's Gateway program—will offer General Education Development (GED), English as a Second Language (ESL) and computer training classes. Job and college services also will be available, as well as the America Reads program. All classes are free and open to the public.
Urban NET is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Community Technology Centers Program and numerous other donors. Community Impact applied for the grant and helped WHGA procure the lab's computers. Community Impact will continue to look for funding and apply for additional grants as well as provide Columbia students as volunteer teachers.
For more information about West Harlem Group Assistance, call (212) 862-1399 or visit www.whgainc.org. To learn about Community Impact's other services, call (212) 854-9621 or visit www.columbia.edu/cu/ci. |
