communitytechnologycenters
Denver Harbor 
voicesfromthelabs
“I want to see what else I can do.”
Socorro
Socorro rarely misses a day of Technology For All’s (TFA) computer class in Denver Harbor Multi-Service Center. She’s also never missed a day of work; a trait she got from her industrious father. “He’d say, ‘God is giving you that day. Don’t waste it.’” With that mentality, Socorro rose from working in beauty salons to a recruiting director for T.G.F. Hair Salon.
Socorro retired recently, but her work ethic hasn’t noticed. “I still feel able to do more things,” she explains. “I like helping people, and retirement isn’t as much support as when you’re working.” Interviews and applications, however, consistently require computer skills, while Socorro doesn’t even have a home computer. “They want to know if you can use the computer, know the programs. And I really want to know the programs.”
To catch up, she uses the open computer lab and computer classes offered through Technology For All. As she job hunts, she uses her growing set of computer skills, like email and Microsoft Word. “[TFA Program Specialist] Chris is great. He makes you feel relaxed and not intimidated. Everyone feels comfortable with him,” Socorro explains. “I’m learning little by little.”
She’s still surprised at how much she can do with computers, wondering, "Who invented all these programs?” She wishes she had more time to learn, she says, but she can only access computer technology and the Internet at Denver Harbor Multi-Service Center. “I don’t have a computer, which holds me back,” she sighs. But in the lab provided by TFA’s Texas Connects Coalition, “I want to see what else I can do.”
If you’d like to support perseverance like Socorro’s, you can help.
The public computer lab is located on the second floor of the Denver Harbor Multi-Service Center in Houston’s Denver Harbor community. It offers a variety of classes and open use sessions. For more information, please contact the center at (713) 670-2143 or visit at 6402 Market St.
“With computers, you can learn anything you want to.”
Lina and Regino
Lina and Regino have been married for 61 years. (“61 already?” Lina asks.) The childhood playmates were married at 16 and 17 in Tahoka, Texas, a small agricultural town near Lubbock. “People got married young in those days,” Lina says. “We were in love. We wanted to have kids; we didn’t think about how we would take care of them.” Now they have 7 children, 18 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren—a dynasty that began in an era where segregation limited educational and economic opportunities. “My dad didn’t see the point in education if you couldn’t get good jobs,” says Lina. “Not everyone had the opportunity to work because people wouldn’t hire blacks and Mexicans.”
Without education laws, children like Regino and Lina were often put to work. Regino left school in third grade, while Lina attended school after crop-picking until she fell too far behind in seventh grade. This had a huge effect on their lives: they lived as migrant workers, dependent on farmers and seasons.
These disadvantages only pushed Lina’s thirst for education, culminating in General Education Development (GED) and computer classes in the Denver Harbor Multi-Service Center’s computer lab. “I always wanted to be educated, because I didn’t get to finish.”
Regino and Lina are both taking control of their education through computers. Lina says, “Everything is computerized, and we both saw a chance here for the seniors.” They take GED and computer basics together; Lina received her GED at the age of 41, but returned to improve her spelling and support Regino, while he learns computers at her side. At home, they take turns cooking and cleaning so the other can study. “I help him with computers, he helps me with spelling,” Lina says. Regino adds, “If I have her here, I do okay.”
Combining their classes has been rewarding. “For me, it’s a dream come true,” says Lina. When they started, “I didn’t know what software was or what it did,” Lina says. Now, she’s helped Regino fix his computer when it crashed. She enjoys the efficiency of emailing lessons and of online resources for math and spelling. Regino adds, “I want to know what I’m doing.”
The couple is a constant feature in the computer lab. “With computers, you can learn anything you want to,” Lina says. “We’ve learned a lot here, more than I’m telling you. [Technology For All Program Specialist] Chris is a very good teacher.” The couple can pay bills online, create professional documents and name computer components. “They give so much help, and so many people need it.”
If you’d like to support underserved citizens catching up with education, you can help.
The public computer lab is located on the second floor of the Denver Harbor Multi-Service Center in Houston’s Denver Harbor community. It offers a variety of classes and open use sessions. For more information, please contact the center at (713) 670-2143 or visit at 6402 Market St.
"I have no other means of access."
Lori
Lori is one of the regulars at Denver Harbor Multi-Service Center’s computer lab. She checks her email and job resources while her two children, Christina and Steve, finish homework and play online games. Sounds simple, but like many computer lab regulars, it’s more than a family enjoying computers: it’s the only computer access they have.
Like many of our users, Lori is a single parent on a fixed income. She cannot afford a home computer or Internet service if she had one. Besides the Technology For All (TFA) lab, “I have no other means of access.” This supports findings from the National Telecommunications Infrastructure Administration: the lower a household’s annual income is, the less likely they are to adopt broadband Internet (the most common and available Internet access).
But without Internet access, Lori would miss the many online employment opportunities and resources. As computer and Internet usage becomes more common, more jobs become available only online—even Walmart applications are impossible without a computer. She would also miss several advantages to communicate with her son, serving in Afghanistan.
Now that she has access, Lori visits almost every day. “It’s available Monday through Friday, and there are people here to help if I need it,” she says. Even her typing skills have improved through practice—her children are more self-sufficient too. “The lab is a great, convenient resource for my kids and myself.”
If you'd like to connect more families, you can help.
The computer lab is located on the second floor of the Denver Harbor Multi-Service Center in Houston’s Denver Harbor community. It offers a variety of classes and open use sessions. For more information, please contact the center at (713) 670-2143 or visit at 6402 Market Street.
“It’s a source of constant amazement.”
Anita*
*Not her real name
Anita heard about Denver Harbor Multi-Service Center’s public computer center from a friend. “But I didn’t want to come because my hands tremor and my head shakes.” But Anita’s tremors also kept her from her art. Now, she says, she’s done art on her computer for the past two months, and that it’s been like therapy for her finger muscles.
“Ms. Larry and [Technology For All’s Program Specialist] Chris are wonderful. I also have dyslexia and ADHD, and can’t have someone lurking over me. But they let me work at my own pace. If it was someone strict, I wouldn’t come back.” Anita also hates asking others for help, she says. But here? “It’s fun being around people learning the same problems.”
Anita is amazed at everything the computer can do. When her daughter was overseas in the Army in 2005, computers kept them in touch. When her tremors kept her from painting, the computer allowed her to paint slower and fix her mistakes. She’s even designing t-shirts based on designs she found online. “The computer has just opened up so many worlds for me. It’s a source of constant amazement.”
Anita explains her natural self-sufficiency pushes her to learn something so fully, she can teach other people. And that’s exactly what she does at The Center Serving Persons with Mental Retardation. “I teach them how to go into programs and design their own things. Learning how to do this is so amazing.”
If you’d like to support people like Anita overcoming all limits to computer technology, you can help.
The computer lab is located on the second floor of the Denver Harbor Multi-Service Center in Houston’s Denver Harbor community. It offers a variety of classes and open use sessions. For more information, please contact the center at (713) 670-2143 or visit at 6402 Market Street.
Site Manager at Denver Harbor Multi-Service Center
Doris Larry was teaching adult education at Denver Harbor Multi-Service Center when she found a few computers in 2009. When she tried using them as teaching tools, however, she spent more time teaching computer basics than GED and ESL curricula. Undaunted, Larry began hosting her own computer classes with a free online curriculum. “We had no headphones, no mousepads, no LCD projector—no accessories.”
Then she found Technology For All, a founding branch of Texas Connects Coalition. Since then, the lab has soared with more computers, equipment and other resources. Her classes have gone from 16 to 30 students, while city programs and Houston Independent School District (HISD) use it as a training site. Students hail from all over Houston, Jacinto City and even Baytown. “We’re proud to show it off now,” she says with a smile.
While everyone who comes to the lab starts at the bottom of the technology pyramid, they master the basics within a few classes. They progress with Microsoft Office Suite, Internet skills and more. “It’s really helping them to achieve their goals.”
Why is it so important? “The students we service are here to improve their English, to improve their basic education. Once they have access to the computers, it’s unlimited what they can do.”
She can recount many students who make that statement true. One was illiterate at 67, and called the computer a television. “He was afraid because he didn’t know anything,” she explains. Now he can access websites, recognize words and is applying for jobs.
Another student was a high school dropout at 19, juggling work and motherhood. Now, she uses HISD’s Twilight Program to finish school, accessing her studies online and gaining credits faster. “She can only do so in this lab,” Larry explains.
If you’d like to support community access to digital empowerment, you can help.
The computer lab is located on the second floor of the Denver Harbor Multi-Service Center in Houston’s Denver Harbor community. It offers a variety of classes and open use sessions. For more information, please contact the center at (713) 670-2143 or visit at 6402 Market Street.
