By Todd R. Weiss
Eliana Gomez moved into a Habitat home in Columbus last December. It's the first home that Gomez, a native of Mexico, has ever owned. Her family also received a computer through the Habitat-Redemtech program, and she says that she and her three children find the machine extraordinarily helpful.
"My 8-year-old uses it more than anybody. He likes to do his homework on the computer. He knows how to use it, and he's teaching me sometimes," she says. "My daughter, she is 2, likes to play Dora on the computer."
Eliana Gomez with her son, Jacob, 8, daughter Leticia, 2, and Redemtech volunteers, Laurie and Chris Williams, who installed the PC in the Gomez home.
Gomez says her family hasn't been able to afford Internet access yet, but the PC is nonetheless giving her children opportunities that they didn't have before. And for her part, she says, learning to use the computer at home is opening doors to new opportunities at work. Her employer has asked her to be a manager, and she's working on her computer skills to reach that goal, she says.
"I didn't know how to use a computer," she says. "I go to classes. I like to do that."
Companies that donate old computers make more money through tax savings than they would by simply selling their unneeded equipment, says Robert Houghton, president of Redemtech. The companies making the donations pay Redemtech to refurbish and redistribute the equipment, at a cost that's lower than what they would end up spending if they tried to donate the machines on their own, he says.
Redemtech has set up its own internal program called the Serious Good project to promote the fact that businesses that donate their old IT equipment can enjoy increased tax benefits while helping low-income families.
How innovative is the Serious Good Program? In a recent research note, IT analyst firm Gartner Inc. said the program could truly help businesses find better ways to donate old gear. "Gartner has long advised enterprises to be cautious when donating used IT equipment to charitable organizations, because the process can be labor-intensive and requires careful planning, asset preparation and documentation," while exposing donor companies to significant liability if the recipient organization subsequently fails to dispose of the equipment properly, Gartner wrote.
The Serious Good initiative can mitigate those types of risks, according to Gartner, because Redemtech acts as an intermediary to "streamline the process from end to end, minimizing end-of-life liability risk by including no-charge recycling as a standard part of the process, and ensuring the recipient gets a high-value, working asset. These relatively low-risk IT asset donations can be attractive to an enterprise's corporate social responsibility area."
But beyond just helping with tax breaks and making companies feel good that their old computer equipment is being put to good use, the bottom line is that families truly benefit from the Habitat-Redemtech project, Houghton says.
"Habitat has changed the paradigm so that safe, affordable housing has to include a computer," he says. "They've identified that eliminating that digital exclusion is a necessary part of setting up a family in one of their homes."
Source URL: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9200984/Bridging_the_digital_divide_Low_income_families_enjoy_cast_off_PCs?taxonomyId=64&pageNumber=2
Habitat for Humanity
URL: http://www.habitat.org/
Serious Good Project (Redemtech own internal program)
http://www.redemtech.com/seriousgood/default.aspx
Redemtech has set up its own internal program called the Serious Good project to promote the fact that businesses that donate their old IT equipment can enjoy increased tax benefits while helping low-income families.
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