Community Technology projects are under fire. Money is tight in a downturned economy; support for public interest work is increasingly difficult to find. Why should elected officials spend scarce money today to build lives and offer opportunity? They may well be retired by the time those people show up in hospitals and prisons.

Okay, that's vented. Now what do we do with the situation we actually face?

Community technology leaders have always dealt with inadequate resources for overwhelming needs. AFCN urges: don't buy into gloomy predictions of a dark future for community technology. Community technology leaders have always dealt with inadequate resources for overwhelming needs. If we work together, this year of crisis can bring more benefits than burdens.

At AFCN, we are feverishly addressing sustainability as one key issue, largely because so many CNs are facing vital deadlines for operations and payrolls. Fortunately some solid questions and promising initiatives are beginning to emerge. One fairly obvious example:

Community Technology Integration: Centers, Networks, and... Commissions?

All too often our projects become insular. Daily problems seem so pressing we don't have time to stay in touch with valuable allies, even in our own community. That has to change. AFCN recommends strongly CTC and CN leaders find time to meet with other local technology stakeholders. Perhaps monthly breakfasts? However you gather, invite ISPs, government leaders, economic developers, businesspeople, IT professionals... anyone with an interest in healthy growth of local telecommunications.

If a more formal structure appeals, help create a regional telecom advocacy organization. One good model is a 501c3 "commission," endorsed but not owned by your government(s).

Each "partner" group can retain its own identity and leadership in this collaboration. But together we can exchange information, share resources, and seek additional support.

I recognize collaborative efforts are hardly news for you. So if you have one already, support and energize it. If not, start one. The time has come to get serious about local control and activism.

Whatever you do, MEET! Get the mayor there. Ask bankers. Don't overlook service organizations. The work you do and capacity you help build matters to everyone.

Related questions:

• Do you have both a CN and CTCs in your town? What's the difference?
• Is supporting separate programs becoming a burden? Could you serve better by closer cooperation or even merger?

Though autonomy, control and separate history are not always compatible it's usually worth the effort to explore sharing operations and facilities. Might help keep the doors open.

Affordable, Accessible Software, Tools

Two other current priorities for AFCN support of community technology leaders are basic: tools and training. We're preparing a report on powerful tools already available and usually free. Some overworked CN leaders may not yet know where to find assistance they may badly need. For example, have you noted the ACC Regional Development 2002 Report and the Regional Consortia Directory recently posted on the CTCNet website? Or the self-evaluation toolkit on AmericaConnects.net? You don't have to be a CTC; anyone can use these tools.

Gene Takes a Call From the Home Office

Another increasingly timely resource is the growing selection and sophistication of "Open Source/shareware/accessible/whatever" software. (Richard Stallman was just visiting, decrying the more common name "Open Source" – but you know what I mean). Andrew Cohill and others have long recognized their value, and they're right. Flexibility and cost make these important options for efficiently-managed community technology projects. (For years MAIN/TCRC has been running Linux on some servers in our NOC, but since we are an R&D facility for community IT we expect and even presume high maintenance. So I hadn't realized how far open source has evolved. Now we have a local Open Source Forum to exchange information and advocate continuing development.)

If you are interested in more information on Open Source, and/or would like to volunteer to help in its development, please make contact via the AFCN.org website.

Funding, Training

In the last issue I discussed our new professional Community Network training programs. For this issue I'll remind that we are responding to the lamentable reductions in federal government support for key community telecommunications programs like CTC, America Connects, NTIA/TOP, VISTA digital divide initiates, etc. State governments are cutting back as well. In Texas we currently have nearly 200 community networks, mostly funded by one program, now almost certainly being eliminated. I sadly predict we'll lose a number of them during the year ahead.

That's why we're pushing to identify support resources still available and working to assist CN leaders in participating in programs that fit their needs. The most recent example is our March 27, 2003 TOP grant workshop. TOP officials, whose outreach budgets are terribly slim, were wonderful about partnering with us to help inform prospective applicants about the 2003 RFP.

We're hurriedly working toward a second workshop like this, to be held in the DC area. Workshop information is posted on the TOP workshop web page and on AFCN and CTCNet member lists. For information on this and other funding assistance programs, you can also contact Patti Clifford (pclifford@main.org).

We Need Leaders!

Are you willing to help out (and help your own efforts, too) by working with AFCN to gather information and develop resources? One immediate need is experienced "volunteer program" leaders able to coordinate basic online volunteerism. Please let us know if you can help.

New Mexico Milestone: Judith Pepper, member of the AFCN Board of Directors, reports the world-famed La Plaza Community Network of Taos, New Mexico, is winding down operations. Judith and the La Plaza leadership decided the primary goals for which La Plaza was created have been met and, given increasing difficulty of economic sustainability, their time and efforts could be more productive in other activities.

Though this passage naturally brings some sadness, La Plaza will be recorded as one of community networking's clear successes. Plus there is the brighter news that Judith will be sharing her expertise and insights professionally, as a consultant for other communities.

This brings a question I'd like to ask AFCN members. As our profession matures we are blessed by a growing number of true experts, capable of assisting communities everywhere. When Steve Snow left Charlotte's Web and Andrew Cohill left Blacksburg Electronic Village, we added two assets to the small cadre of skilled consultants, like the legendary Frank Odasz.

And I can't mention them without noting other friends who are also genuine experts, like Terri and Karen and Richard and... see the problem?

So The Question: Would it be valuable for AFCN to create some sort of directory of qualified community network advisors? Your input is invited.

Finally... Remembering Don Furth

Don Furth

I'm sad to report a loss in our family. On February 27th, 2003, Don Furth of Rio Grande FreeNet passed away. Though not so widely known as our beloved Toni Stone, Don was one of the true pioneers of community networking in this country.

Upon retiring as a U.S. Army Ranger Sergeant Major with Purple Heart and Bronze Star, Don recognized great human need in the vast, economically struggling, geographically-isolated area surrounding El Paso, Texas (El Paso, in a different time zone from the rest of Texas, is closer to Los Angeles than to its own state capital.) So he founded the Rio Grande FreeNet, the first FreeNet in Texas, to offer access, education, and opportunity to hundreds of thousands in his community.

An unassuming but dedicated man, Don Furth embodied the best of our profession. He worked devotedly for this wonderful project until the day he passed away. His decency and commitment were truly an inspiration to those blessed by his friendship. This is not mere eulogy: Don was always there for us, offering quiet guidance and spiritual support, with his trademark warmth, wit, and wisdom. He will be greatly missed.

That's about it for this issue, except to say again: These are times we need each other more than ever. Please tell us how AFCN can best serve you and your community. And please join AFCN to help us make that happen. Thanks, Gene

Referred to as EITC or EIC, the Federal Earned Income Tax Credit is a $31 billion program. It can return as much as $4,140 a year to a low-income working family, which dramatically impacts the lives of our clients. The average return is about $1,600. EITC is a credit. This means it returns more money to the low-wage earner than they put in through taxes withheld. To get it, a person simply needs to file their Federal tax return and the Earned Income Credit worksheet. It is important to note that low-income earners who did not claim the EIC in years past are entitled to file or amend prior returns for up to three years, and receive retroactive EIC. This potentially enables low-income tax filers to receive up to $12,000 at one time, assuming they have never filed for this credit and were eligible for it for each of the last three years.

For those who do claim this credit, the benefits extend far beyond one individual or one family. Statistics show that 80% of the income credit refunded to the family is spent within the community in which the low-income family lives. Generally, the money is spent on rent, utilities, and food and household products from community-based stores. Despite the potential windfall promised by the Federal EIC for communities and low-income families, billions of dollars are uncollected annually by eligible families and individuals. Many individuals do not file because they do not know about the credit. Many who do file often fall victim to high-priced "Refund Anticipation Loans" (RALs), commonly offered by most commercial tax preparation offices. While these loans speed an advanced payment to a worker by a few weeks (for workers who do not electronically file), the annual percentage rate on the advanced refund ranges from 100% to 700%. Persons who affirmatively answer the question, "Would you like your money right away?" unknowingly lose badly-needed funds.

Introducing I-CAN! Earned Income Credit (I-CAN! EIC)

I-CAN! EIC is a web-based application that helps low-wage earners file and complete their Federal tax forms for free. It has been created with funding by the Legal Services Corporation and is certified by the IRS as an online tax tool. It completes Federal tax forms for anyone eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit and allows users the option to electronically file their return. I-CAN! EIC also does the California state returns for users, when appropriate. A user does not have to look at tax forms or know before beginning if they can claim the EITC.

How I-CAN! EIC Works

It's easy: www.icanefile.org!
I-CAN! EIC is offered in Spanish, Vietnamese, and English. It uses a video guide to read simple questions that are on the screen to the user. The application has been translated at a fifth grade literacy level. The client answers the questions using a keyboard, at their own pace. When all of the questions are answered, completed tax forms are available for printing and electronic filing. If someone is not eligible for the Federal EIC, the I-CAN! EIC system will "exit" a user and link them to a site that tells them the volunteer tax preparation site nearest them.

A National Network

While I-CAN! EIC is a great web tool for our client community, its success will be rooted in the partnerships created around the country with programs that promote the service to its clients. To date, the I-CAN! EIC network involves 55 programs across 19 states. Each program reaches hundreds or thousands of clients who could benefit from this credit. Partnering programs have committed at various levels: Some programs are putting the link to the web application on their site. Others are engaging in outreach and publicity campaigns about the EIC in their community and promoting I-CAN! EIC. A majority of programs are offering a computer workstation in their offices for clients to come in and access the system. A few programs are integrating I-CAN! EIC within their own client delivery systems by putting messages for clients to hear about I-CAN! EIC on their telephones while the client is on hold. Additionally, they are training their staff to route clients to the system even though the staff may be helping them with another social or legal matter.

This is the first national network created on behalf of low-income clients to help them put money back into their pockets. To support the national network, the Legal Aid Society of Orange County has developed trainings for programs to attend, which are offered "virtually" via web conferencing and are an hour and a half in length. Additionally, we have put together professionally-made Public Service Announcements (PSAs) that we send to each partner for them to use on their own radio and television stations. Each PSA has a spot where the program's name and number is advertised for more help. The spots inform clients in an easy way about the EITC, e-filing, and the I-CAN! EIC program.

How to Partner

To partner, a program leader can contact Gabrielle Hammond (see below). Alternately, a program can go online and register themselves as a partner. They will then receive additional information on trainings and a Memorandum of Understanding that needs to be signed. More information about the project can be found at www.icanefile.org/programs.

This article is part two of a three-part series that shares case studies from the Creating Community Connections Project, an ongoing effort at Camfield Estates, a predominantly African-American, low- to moderate-income housing development in Roxbury, MA, since 1999. As part of this project, MIT researchers have worked with residents to establish a technological infrastructure by offering every family a new computer, software, and high-speed Internet connection, along with comprehensive course and a web-based community building system. The project combines these elements in an effort to achieve a social and cultural resonance that integrates both community technology and community building by leveraging indigenous assets.

The first article in this series, "Edna Jackson, Technology and Community Building: From Staunchest Opponent to Greatest Proponent." a senior citizen and survivor of emphysema, and demonstrated the positive influence a community can exert on its members. This second installment portrays the experiences of the resident project leader Rodney Williams, a college student, and his evolution throughout the initiative, his involvement as an active agent of change, the social and cultural shift to becoming an active producer of information and content, and the benefits that are accrued.

Rodney Williams joined the Creating Community Connections project team along with two residents (a brother-sister pair) and his younger cousin, whom he personally recruited to join the team. The remaining team members included representatives from the Tenants' Association and the Housing Finance Agency and researchers from MIT. Given his longstanding ties in the neighborhood and his prior experience with community-based projects (he successfully raised money to organize a local lacrosse program for urban youth), the team easily reached consensus that Rodney should be assigned the role of project leader.

Under Rodney's leadership, the project team was involved in a variety of activities throughout the summer of 2000. The team's primary responsibilities were to design and administer a preliminary assessment survey, organize an awareness campaign to solicit resident participation in the project, coordinate an asset-mapping initiative of local community resources (e.g., organizations, institutions such as libraries, schools, churches, businesses, etc.), and determine the user interface and functionality for the housing development website. To manage these tasks, team meetings were held once a week (at minimum) on-site at the development or on campus at MIT. A typical meeting included written and oral reports from each team member, project updates, strategy sessions, and weekly reading assignments and discussion.

Indubitably, the active participation of residents in each of these assignments was integral to the project's successful launch. For Rodney, the interviews provided a natural mechanism to converse with neighbors and simultaneously learn about community issues.

Being involved in the interviews was very important to me because it gave me a chance to get up close and personal with the residents and talk to them on a more initiate basis – more so than just the casual conversation that I normally have with some of them. I feel like I learned just as much from the survey and the survey results as I did from the off-the-record conversations that I had with the residents.

The asset-mapping initiative also generated numerous benefits. First, residents were able to identify local resources of potential benefit to themselves and their neighbors. This included child care facilities, youth-serving organizations, nearby businesses, etc., that would later be available on the housing development's website. Second, the information that was gathered provided an environmental scan of organizations with whom future partnerships could be forged, pending the results of the preliminary assessment. Third, and finally, the process itself heightened residents' appreciation of the assets located in their community.

I think it was important for [residents] to go out and find that information ourselves because that, in itself, was an exercise in community building. We are the ones that live here and this is going to benefit us and these are things that we should know – It was really empowering to see all of the things that were in the community.

Rodney's participation, as well as the participation of the other resident team members, appears to have had a positive impact on the project and each of them personally. Above all, their participation deepened their own levels of engagements as well as that of their neighbors.

A Social and Cultural Shift

As the fall was ushered in, the project moved from planning to implementation as Rodney and the other team members began to witness the fruits of their labor. The first cohort of families involved with the project (Round I) were interviewed in August 2000 and began taking courses at the community technology center (CTC) on the premises one month later. Rodney would periodically check-in on their progress as the team waived his participation in the courses because of his prior experience with computers and his contributions to the project to-date. The Round I participants would receive their computers and Internet connections just prior to the Thanksgiving holiday (the process of interviews and courses ramped up again in January 2001 for a second cohort of families during Round II).

In December 2000, the housing development's website went "live" as residents who completed the program were able to access the system online. For nine months after the system's launch, Rodney was noticeably absent as a contributor to the site he helped to design and implement. This was partly due to his busy schedule. However, there were other reasons to explain why his online participation lagged behind offline leadership. He was hesitant to contribute until others contributed, while others were reluctant to do so for exactly the same reason.

I thought, OK now we have this site up and initially I was thinking, "Why aren't people really communicating on there?" and "Why aren't people using it as much as they should?" but I don't know if I necessarily saw myself as one of those people. And then I thought to myself, "Well why aren't you contributing?" For some reason there was a disconnect.

Interestingly, one factor that accelerated Rodney's transition in this regard was his fundamental belief in the value of producing information and content in the digital age. Although his initial conceptualization of such activities was centered on global, rather than local contributions, the project has shaped and molded his thinking.

To really leave your mark and make your contribution you have to be able to produce and create something using that tool whether that is creating a website or contributing a line [or] a message on a chat room or a message board or whatever it is.

On a personal note, that's the only way I can feel validated. I have to feel like I use something as a means to get me to another point where I can produce something from it. I'm at a point where I want to make my contribution, and I've got a lot of different ideas that I'm working on now.

From Passive to Active

Presently, Rodney is spearheading a number of initiatives that are heavily informed by the results of the preliminary assessment, which identified issues such as a lack of activities for youth, and the need for improved community information and communication, safety/security measures, and employment opportunities for residents.

The shift that has taken place within Rodney is one that has involved varying degrees of "active-ness" at varying times along varying dimensions. Since the project's inception, he has been integrally involved in the process of building community at the development. On one hand, his ongoing participation in the interviews, recruiting, asset-mapping, website design, and other activities, have been key to the project's success. Furthermore, his participation and contributions to the virtual space at the development are now beginning to come to fruition.

Some of the online and offline activities he is involved with include a discussion forum for "Tenants Association Notices and Announcements" on the housing development's website; a forum created by the President of the Tenants' Association, after a meeting with Rodney; a partnership with the Boston Empowerment Zone to conduct job training and placement for residents that may be partially mediated online; and the return of the housing development's newsletter that was regularly distributed prior to renovation. Rodney will help design the newsletter in a paper-based and electronic format by working with the President of the Tenants' Association, the Director of Community Relations, and others.

Lastly, Rodney believes the project has benefited him as much personally as it has benefited the community. He feels he has a repertoire of positive, memorable experiences when his hard work and dedication have truly paid off.

I feel like participating in the project has made me a lot more connected with the community. A lot of that has to do with me having such a hands-on role in a lot of the interviews, the data gathering, the recruiting participants and so forth. It's made me more visible in the community. People are pretty willing to talk to me and have a conversation with them. I feel like just being in the project has definitely brought me a lot closer to people here and the community. I feel like I'm a trusted and respected figure.

Clearly, as a result of his active role in the project, Rodney feels more connected to the community than ever before.

"What is the best that higher education can contribute to communities?" The Campus Community Partnership of Metro Richmond posed this question to community leaders. What they said is now changing the way local nonprofits work together. Together, academics and citizens developed ConnectRichmond.org, a dynamic local nonprofit network and a website aimed at using information and technology to build the capacity of the local independent sector.

Decision-making in the last 20 years in Richmond, Virginia's conservative capital city, has been dominated by politics—especially the politics of race and business interests. As in most of the country during this same time, the local nonprofit sector grew tremendously, yet still had no consistent voice in policy debates. Instead, it focused almost exclusively on the day-to-day challenges of critical need, a reality that forfeited the broader solutions offered through public policy.

Seeing the potential for facilitating significant improvement, faculty member Richard Couto and a few students in the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond founded the Campus Community Partnership in 1993 to work with the nonprofit community to put the resources of higher education to work on community problems. Today, it remains a loose consortium of faculty and students from diverse area institutions—J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, the University of Richmond (private, privileged, suburban), Virginia Commonwealth University (large, urban, public) and Virginia Union University (private, historically African-American).

For years, the Partnership staged special events, placed student volunteers in community and nonprofit programs, and sought answers to problems through community-driven research. Two years ago, through a series of community-wide meetings, the Partnership helped assess needs on a wider scale to develop the next phase.

Like many urban areas, Richmond and its surrounding counties struggle with a multitude of public policy issues and human service needs. Nonprofit, public agencies, and the citizens those agencies serve said that both resources and communication were fragmented. This fragmentation applied to those working to improve the quality of life and those seeking to access services. Strategic decision-making stalled, as did making a case to funders about market position, impact, cost effectiveness, or future direction. Organizations could not take full advantage of resources that would build each organization's capacity to do its job and reach its potential for public service.

How the Resource Network Works

At the heart of a diversity of requests was a need to be united—hence ConnectRichmond was born in fall of 2001. At the core of the network is its first product, an email list that enables each member instant access nearly 600 Richmonders with an interest in community. Evaluation data indicate that users pass on messages regularly, reaching another 1,500-3,000 people.

This communication infrastructure results in:

• Collaborations around training, space usage, service provision, and funding proposals;
• Learning from others' experiences (e.g., IRS regulations, trustee insurance,

  accounting services, online giving);
• Finding employees and consultants; and
• Sharing perspectives on local issues and notices regarding community action.

Next, we tackled the wish for centralized access to local information, using university expertise to create a web-based resource, which the community was responsible for shaping. Students dug up local research reports, scoured databases, and located national sites that lead to local information. As it's developed, the site is made up of three elements:

• A news section, updated weekly with information about legislation affecting nonprofits or their target populations, relevant local news and postings submitted by the community (e.g., funding opportunities, items for donation, upcoming events, collaboration opportunities, and job postings), and news from the national nonprofit research and funding world. We also post information on upcoming workshops, conferences, and seminars.
• The Community Research Clearinghouse, featuring reports, research results, statistics, and other data on diverse issues such as health, housing, homelessness, education, and poverty.
• The Nonprofit Resource Center, which provides links to nonprofit management and philanthropy programs at local colleges and universities, instruction and resources on collaboration, evaluation, advocacy, technology planning, and much more. A section for grant makers includes information on accountability, recent trends in philanthropy, and hyperlinks to organizations and news for and about philanthropy in metro Richmond and the United States.

• The National Higher Education Community Research Project, a Learn-and-Serve funded initiative of the Bonner Foundation, championed by its Vice President, Bobby Hackett, is advancing community-driven research in seven communities. The Partnership facilitates metro Richmond's community-driven research teams and the request-for-proposal process, including gathering community research requests and connecting with appropriate faculty occurs readily because of the infrastructure ConnectRichmond provides.
• Xperts, a local IT developer, is building a web-enabled architecture for nonprofits that will link and support their services, house data, develop low-cost customized software, and provide ConnectRichmond with a source of service-based funding. Last year, Reggie Gordon, Director of Homeward, Richmond's regional coordinating agency for homeless services, joined ConnectRichmond, Xperts, and DNDS.com, a local web design and hosting company, to work toward piloting this architecture among the homeless services organizations in the area.
• Capital One, one of the largest employers in Richmond and an active corporate citizen, is partnering with ConnectRichmond to distribute recycled computers to nonprofit organizations in the metro area, monthly, beginning in April.
• A group of nonprofits led by the YWCA of Richmond, struggling with the "how to"of outcome evaluation, recognized that the information available on the web site could not move them from "knowing" to "doing," so the group asked ConnectRichmond to convene monthly gathering and link group members through an email list.
• The University of Richmond has received funding from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund to launch five, one-year faculty-student community alliances that will map geographic concentrations of needs, as well as locations of assets that meet those needs, using Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
• J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College and Virginia Commonwealth University, both Partnership institutions, have started small, college-based businesses that employ soon-to-graduate IT students to get hands-on experience serving the nonprofit sector with affordable networking services.
• A Chamber of Commerce youth initiative, Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Richmond are working with regional nonprofit organizations to capture and make available data that both small organizations and government offices already generate to facilitate resource allocation, strategic planning, and setting community, agency, and governmental priorities; community mobilization and self-direction; community and client needs assessments, grant writing, and advocacy; client tracking and service monitoring; and program evaluation and accountability to funders.

The deaf/hard-of-hearing community in Kentucky totals approximately 400,000 people. In order to provide members of this community with equitable access to remote interpreting, a statewide network, the Kentucky Deaf Access Consortium (K-DAC), was created. K-DAC consists of four partners: Eastern Kentucky University's Center on Deafness, the Kentucky Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, the Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing, and the Kentucky Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. For more than ten years, the partners have collaborated on other projects, and the Consortium was a natural outgrowth of these efforts.

Federal funding for the Consortium makes access to remote interpreting and captioning possible. Via a Deaf Access Station (DAS), which is a computer workstation equipped with a camera, a deaf consumer needing services from a hearing service provider that does not communicate in sign language, can be linked to an interpreter in another location. With the DAS, the interpreter can use any computer that has the necessary videoconferencing software and connect with the individuals in the other location, who also have the same software. The deaf consumer can begin to ask questions while the interpreter voices for the hearing service provider. When the service provider answers, the deaf consumer watches the interpreter on the screen as the interpreter signs the translation.

The software chosen for the project is Sorensen's EnVision. This product removes the delayed motion previously encountered when attempting to communicate in American Sign Language using other teleconferencing packages. Before applying for funding, the partners conducted a year-long usage feasibility of EnVision, testing its functionality and practicality over a variety of lines. In spring 2001, the first DAS using the EnVision product was deployed at the Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing. A statewide deployment was held at Kentucky's DeaFestival, June 2002.

Using the information gathered from the usage feasibility study and from task force data collected in 1996, the University, along with its partners, applied for federal funding for the DAS project. Application was made to the Department of Commerce's Technology Opportunities Program (TOP) in spring 2001, and funding was approved in fall 2002. Since that time, the partners have developed an installation plan that allows 40 public stations to be established throughout the state by the end of the project in fall 2004. Given that the EnVision product has dropped in price from $500 to $150 in the past year, the Consortium's hope is that deaf consumers will eventually have this software loaded on their personal home computers.

This access eliminates the waiting time for services, decreases the need for intervention, and reduces access hardships for deaf and hard-of-hearing users. TOP believes that K-DAC will also serve as a national model of successful and replicable service provider delivery to deaf and hard-of-hearing consumers. The external evaluator will conduct the first user evaluation of the project this fall.