Mission:
Tech Goes Home empowers communities to access and use digital tools to overcome barriers and advance lives.
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IN THIS ISSUE:
- Systemic Racism & Digital Inequity
- Summer of Distance Learning
- School Program Piloting Online in 4 Additional Districts
- TGH Receives Excellence Award
- Virtual Volunteers Support Pivot to Distance Learning
- TGH Ambassador Spotlight: TGH Instructor Donna
- Digital Resources for Anti-Racism & Healing
- TGH in the Media
- Digital Inclusion Reading Round-Up
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SYSTEMIC RACISM & DIGITAL INEQUITY
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As two national and global pandemics collide — namely, ongoing systemic racism and the more recent coronavirus — we write to you with a heavy heart. At this moment in time, a glaring spotlight has once again been shone on the inequities, deeply rooted in systemic racism, that persist in our society.
It is no surprise to any of us that systemic racism is at the foundation of the digital divide. That discrimination and hate drives the very inequities that TGH is trying to address. Today, we find ourselves more motivated than ever to fight digital exclusion, given it is at its roots a racial and social justice issue.
Both the COVID-19 pandemic and the persistent racial injustice that continues to plague our society have disproportionately affected the communities we serve. Tech Goes Home imagines a world where the digital divide is eliminated as one less inequity weighing heavily on our society, and specifically on low-income communities and communities of color.
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SUMMER OF DISTANCE LEARNING
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TGH School learners at Cambridge Public Schools receive their TGH Chromebook
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Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, demand for our services, which had already reached an all-time high before the pandemic, has skyrocketed. In response to this demand, we are redoubling our efforts to empower families and communities to access and use the internet during the current pandemic and beyond.
Tech Goes Home continues bringing together the critical trio of digital skills, internet, and a device on which our community members can continue their education, apply for jobs and unemployment benefits, order essentials online, and access telehealth. Since mid-March, we have transitioned our programs to a completely online format. We have already graduated over 500 learners from our new Distance Learning courses, and more than 300 learners are currently enrolled.
We are also in the midst of our
15-part webinar series
covering a variety of essential digital skills, and we have developed
video tutorials
and
resources
for weathering the current pandemic. We look forward to growing our online resource library and Distance Learning programs this summer!
Thank you for your commitment to digital equity.
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SCHOOL PROGRAM PILOTING ONLINE IN 4 ADDITIONAL DISTRICTS
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Last month, Wellington Management Foundation generously awarded Tech Goes Home a grant to pilot our Distance Learning School program in four additional school districts: Cambridge, Chelsea, Revere, and Somerville. This grant has allowed 120 additional families to gain the digital skills, tools, and access to meet their essential needs while remaining quarantined at home and succeed academically during the current pandemic and when schools reopen. We are grateful for Wellington Management Foundation's support to ensure that families are connected during this pandemic and beyond!
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TGH RECEIVES EXCELLENCE AWARD
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On June 24th, Tech Goes Home was hono
red to be awarded t
he Massachusetts Nonprofit Network's Excellence Award in Partnerships. The Nonprofit Excellence Award in the Partnership category recognizes the lead organization in an effort by two or more nonprofits that have partnered to address a compelling problem that could not have been solved as effectively by the individual organizations.
“Our team is thrilled and grateful to be this year's MNN Excellence in Partnership Award Winner,” said Theodora Hanna, TGH Co-CEO. “Our goal of ensuring everyone has a computer, internet, and the skills to use them has never been more urgent than during this pandemic when so many of us are isolated at home. Thankfully, Greater Boston has a uniquely rich network of schools, libraries, nonprofits, and other incredible partners that are helping us work towards digital equity. As we often say, our partners and instructors are the lifeblood of Tech Goes Home!”
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VIRTUAL VOLUNTEERS SUPPORT PIVOT TO DISTANCE LEARNING
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TGH Volunteer Candace recorded a
video tutorial
for ordering groceries online
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Tech Goes Home has welcomed an outstanding team of virtual volunteers who are helping us to create even more resources and make sure our programs run smoothly. Volunteers have produced video tutorials, created PDF guides, and translated resources into more languages.
We are currently seeking virtual volunteers to fill the following roles:
- Serve as a course assistant during TGH Distance Learning classes on Zoom, supporting the TGH instructor and TGH learners as they gain new digital skills
- Create video and PDF tutorials covering a variety of digital skills and internet resources
- Translate existing resources into Arabic, Cantonese, French, Haitian Creole, Mandarin, Portuguese, Somali, and Spanish
Thank you to all of our volunteers for their hard work, and thank you to the Kraft Family Foundation for making our in-house volunteer program possible.
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TGH AMBASSADOR SPOTLIGHT: TGH INSTRUCTOR DONNA
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TGH Community course led by instructors Donna and CasSandra
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Long-time TGH instructor Donna Lashus has taught TGH Community, TGH School, and TGH Early Childhood courses with Boston Teachers Union, Taylor Elementary, and Higginson-Lewis K-8 School. Donna and her co-instructor CasSandra were among the first TGH Instructors to run a course online through the new TGH Distance Learning model. Most recently, Donna and CasSandra have taught courses organized through Boston Teachers Union for paraprofessionals who work in Boston Public Schools.
Donna explains that many BPS staff are required to work with children through technology, but a group of colleagues were not comfortable using technology and were considering retiring because of it. In response, Donna and her co-instructors began offering TGH to BPS staff in collaboration with the Boston Teachers Union. With schools moving completely online due to the current pandemic, digital skills and tools have become especially important for BPS staff to be able to continue connecting with their students from home. Reflecting on her experience teaching a TGH Community course for BPS paraprofessionals, Donna says, “To see the smiles on people’s faces when they feel so confident about what they learned through that course is amazing. A lot of them thought they would never be able to do this.”
Thank you, Donna, for the incredible impact you have made on the Tech Goes Home community!
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DIGITAL RESOURCES FOR ANTI-RACISM & HEALING
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The internet is filled with such an overwhelming number of resources that it can be difficult to know where to start. These are some of the resources for anti-racism and healing that our partner organizations and friends at Haley House have recommended:
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DIGITAL INCLUSION READING ROUND-UP
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TGH’s work is only possible with contributions from donors, like you, and municipal, corporate, and foundation grants. Thank you for supporting TGH.
An extra thank you to the following lead donors for their extraordinary support!
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Arthur F. Blanchard Trust
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Mabel Louise Riley Foundation
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