LFC’s mission is to help residents overcome the digital divide by providing low-to-no cost computers, digital literacy training, hands-on technology workshops and technology assistance for low-income individuals, families, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities, while providing our multicultural and age diverse volunteers a safe, encouraging place to learn about education and career opportunities in Computer Science & Information Technology.
Gaining access to computers and learning safe, effective digital skills increases everyone’s resiliency, as technology can serve as a tool for empowerment. Since 2009, LFC has provided over 15,200 computers, taught over 1,450 digital literacy classes, and improved the lives of more than 16,500 individuals. We teach bilingual (Spanish-English) classes to minority and small business owners, organic farmers and childcare providers; we help them learn business-oriented software for finances, contracts, sales, marketing, and communications. We offer our county’s seniors individualized and small group instruction to gain skills to use the Internet and Apps. Since 2021, we have trained over 1,600 seniors. For adults and migrant youth, learning digital skills increases their opportunities for employment and education, and for teens we conduct workshops on Internet and Social Media safety. The results: our county’s residents can envision a future that expands their self-reliance, fortitude and economic status.
Our campaign focused on providing computer equipment to our county’s low-income residents. We raised funds to distribute 200 laptops, desktops, Chromebooks, tablets and iPads at no-cost to children, youth, adults, and seniors. We distributed computers to participants who successfully completed our digital literacy classes. These computers were distributed to K-12 and college students for schoolwork and remote learning, to adults seeking to improve their employment opportunities, to seniors for telehealth sessions and to overcome feelings of isolation and emotional stress, and to migrant and out-of-school youth to continue their education. LFC’s computers include software and apps, and a one-year warranty.
Every computer recipient completes an LFC Intake Form that includes basic demographic data, questions about their computer skills, and markers that identify them as low-income. We also distributed computers to residents at county fairs and festivals to encourage them to participate in our classes.
I am incredibly grateful to LFC for providing me with both a computer and the training I needed. With this support, I can now connect to my Zoom meetings and complete my work efficiently.
- Catherine Clay, Monterey
