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 Low-income kids gain access to computers
By RON MATUS, Times Staff Writer TAMPA -- Twelve-year-old Carlesha Anderson has always wanted a computer. She wants one so she can listen to music on the Internet and learn how to type. She wants one so she can get help with homework when her grandmother doesn't understand. Anderson's family can't afford a computer. But on Saturday, she got to work with the next best thing. She was among 25 people who turned out for the dedication of the Palm River Computer Center, a facility that aims to give low-income children access to computers and the opportunities that come with them. "We hope it opens up possibilities," said Steve McDermott, a deputy with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. The center is housed in a shopping plaza on Palm River Road, in the office for Weed & Seed, a federal program that seeks to reduce drugs and crime in tough neighborhoods. The push for the center came from two groups with ties to local law enforcement: Cops & Computers for the Community, which McDermott started, and Computer Acquisition and Placement Program, better known as CAPP. The 15 computers were donated by individuals and corporations, and fixed or upgraded by the groups' technicians. For now, the computers will be used by students suspended from local schools and by dropouts preparing for the GED test. But the plan is to expand center hours so children like Anderson can use them, too. "Even in your most basic job, you need to know a little bit about computers," said Gene King, an officer with the Tampa Police Department who helped start CAPP. Anderson, a student at Dowdell Middle Magnet School, brought her younger brother, sister and two cousins with her Saturday. Within minutes, brother Edward Thomas, 8, had figured out a computer game that featured firefighters battling blazes in a field. Anderson practiced her typing. "The reason I would like a computer is so I won't have to walk to the library in the hot sun," she wrote. Anderson is applying to Cops & Computers for a computer. Since May, it has given 15 computers to individuals and families who need them. CAPP's group, meanwhile, has put dozens of computers into community centers in East Tampa and Sulphur Springs. Another 50 are being set up in the St. Peter Claver School in Ybor City. Kids aren't the only ones using them. At Robles Park Community Center, adults are teaching themselves how to type, King said. Roshanda Bishop, 36, plans to do the same at the Weed & Seed office, where she volunteers. She tried using the computers at a nearby library, but there's always a line. "And they don't have access to the Internet," she said. The ones at the center do. For more information about Cops & Computers or Computer Acquisition & Placement Program, go to http://www.ccftc.org/ or http://www.cappinc.org/. -- Ron Matus can be reached at 226-3405 or matus@sptimes.com. © Copyright St.
Petersburg Times. |
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