Mission Milby

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Mission Milby Community Development Center

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“I work on all kinds of things, but never took a computer class until now.”

Tim

“I was computer illiterate—never been exposed,” says Tim, a Pecan park native dressed in slacks and a tie. Tim’s illiteracy doesn’t mean he’s never worked with a computer—just not in the way you’d think. Back when computer servers required a full room, he earned an income by taking apart computers for Boeing, and would make clocks and miniature trains out of motherboards. In fact, Tim constantly creates as a skillful mechanic, painter and more. It’s this love of handiwork that makes computers fun for him, “…because I’m learning to how boost my creativity. I can make anything.”

“I work on all kinds of things, but never took a computer class until now.” He wishes he’d done it decades ago, saying, “I come from the Dark Ages. But now I feel confident if someone needs me to do something on the computer, I can do it.

“Word is especially interesting. Ken says I took to it like a duck to water.” He even uses even uses a digital camera at work to scan and send pictures as updates on vehicles, keeping a customer updated without making them drive to the mechanic shop. “That’s stuff I wouldn’t know how to do. And I probably wouldn’t have tried it before. This class makes me want to learn more.”

Tim learned of the Texas Connects Coalition basic computer class through Crossroads, a ministry of Servants of Christ serving food, clothing and supplies to 250 of Houston’s homeless. “Since I came to Crossroads, a lot of things have changed for me,” Tim says. It’s true: Tim was unemployed and living at the YMCA. Since trying drugs and alcohol at 13, Tim has dealt with substance abuse, homelessness, prison and more. Now, he shares an apartment, never misses work and is training for a marathon. “I’ve done a 180,” says Tim. “I owe a lot to Crossroads and Mission Milby. Seems like overnight things started happening for me.” And when Program Specialist Ken helped him set up an email account, he found with his daughters in Belgium. “We were separated for 25 years,” he says. “I’ve reconnected with my family.”

His past has led him to youth counseling, where he stresses education and making sound decisions, regardless of peer pressure. “I have a lot of advice to give, because I’ve been there and one it. I have a Master’s degree in what not to do.” It’s not just drugs; he dropped out of high school when his girlfriend became pregnant. “If I’d had some counseling, I wouldn’t have struggled through life. And I’ve struggled way more than I needed to, if I’d just done what I should have done.” Counseling is his purpose, he says. “If I can keep one kid from making the same poor decisions I made, I’ve done my job.”

It seems to be working: young adults have written letters saying they would never forget what he said. “It’s important to get them now, because if they start making mistakes at this age, their percentage of success gets cut by half.”

But it’s not just good for the kids; Tim’s purpose helps his humanity to flourish too. “Before, I was selfish. All that’s starting to change. I’m really caring about people, especially the youth, and how quickly something can go wrong for them.” He often shares a story of a friend who lost her son to pills when he was 21. “It can happen like that.”

He sees computer class as a necessary step in his transformation, and plans to buy a computer of his own and take Mission Milby’s GED courses. “Taking [computer] classes was something I thought I needed to do. Now that I’ve taken the class, I can see where I could have used it in the past, especially Internet access. It’s opened up a whole new world for me.”

If you'd like to support people like Tim turn their lives around and impact others, you can help.

Mission Milby Community Development Corporation is a nonprofit serving Houston’s Pecan Park and Greater East End neighborhoods. It offers classes on exercise, computers and more. For more information, call (713) 454-6464 or visit 2220 Broadway.

“Any business you want to be in uses computers.”

Guillermo

In sixth grade, Guillermo began recording parody videos with his friends. “It was just for fun,” he explains. “When we started getting better, we started getting more serious.”

Guillermo has taken computer courses at Milby High School, located in Houston’s Pecan Park neighborhood. However, these classes focused on computer basics. “I really wanted to learn other programs,” Guillermo says.

He found his niche in Digital Media, a four-week class offered by Technology For All’s Program Specialist Ken at the Mission Milby Community Development Center (MMCDC). Besides shooting and editing a short film, Guillermo can add sound effects, transitions, credits and more. “We even chopped footage for extra humor.”

By the end of the class, everyone had created and collaborated on a video available on YouTube, titled “Candy Intervention.” They celebrated with a ‘splash party’ on MMCDC’s front lawn.

This class is more than an outlet for creativity for students like Guillermo. He’s a senior at a school where 74 percent of students are labeled ‘at-risk’ by Houston Independent School District, in a neighborhood where one-fourth of the entire population reported living in poverty in the U.S. Census 2000. Guillermo, like many students, can’t access the programs and tools provided in Digital Media as easily as other students at other schools. But through this class, Guillermo made new friends, cultivated a skill, enhanced his college resume and had a safe, fun place to go during the summer and after school.

Although Guillermo plans to study biology in college, he takes any computer class available. “Any business you want to be in uses computers. The more you know about them, the bigger your advantage.”

If you’d like to support kids like Guillermo preparing for their future through technology, you can help.

"You could see the progression.”

Ken and Jerry

Technology For All’s Program Specialist Ken remembers the day he met the “roughneck”. “Roughneck”, a slang term for manual labor, is most associated with oil rigs. Houston is also associated with oil rigs thanks to the Port of Houston, the second-busiest port in the U.S. Less than 4 miles away is Mission Milby Community Development Corporation, a community resource for a neighborhood once paved with shells.

“This is a great place. It helps me catch up,” Jerry says. “I don’t have a car right now, so going anywhere costs bus money. This is just down the street.”

“I remember him Day One,” Ken says. “He’s been job-searching, but everything was online.”

That wasn’t his only problem. As they charted through job search websites, he realized Jerry held the mouse incorrectly, right-clicking accidentally and getting frustrated. “I was completely computer illiterate,” Jerry says.

His frustration when he had to create a username and password to apply online. “That took 30 minutes,” Ken says. Because Jerry was so unfamiliar with online registration, password character limitations were a struggle. He even banged the mouse with frustration. Once they’d finished, Jerry said, “That was a hard application!” Ken replied, “That was just the registration.”

Jerry’s struggle doesn’t reflect his industrious intelligence. He’s a Merchant Marine, a self-titled “wrench hand” and licensed forklift operator who’d spent years at the Port until recent layoffs. Despite his experience, these salt-of-the-earth-and-sea jobs were inaccessible when the application process was online. Jerry had no resume, no email and no computer skills. “If you don’t know how to use a computer, you’re dead in the water,” he says.

Slowly, Jerry began crafting a resume, saving drafts by emailing them to himself. He showed up four days a week, always with a new list of websites with jobs. Now, he navigates websites with ease. “You could see the progression. His frustration levels went down through the weeks.”

Now, Jerry feels much more confident about the job hunt armed with a resume. He attends job fairs with his fiancée, applies online through job search and company websites and logs all jobs he’s applied for (so far it’s at 70). But his confidence also comes from what he’s accomplished. “Just being able to send out a resume is huge for him,” Ken explains.

To date, Jerry has received multiple job offers. Unfortunately, he has turned them down due to a lack of transportation—most labor jobs are miles away from a Metro route. This reinforces how under-resourced the communities we serve are; access to modern support and opportunities rarely, if ever, has one limitation. But by providing digital training and access, TFA removes major barriers to the opportunities these communities need and work for.

If you’d like to support people like Jerry succeed in today’s job market, you can help.

"This is outreach."

Amy & Donna--Community Outreach with Houston Public Library

Mango Languages is a self-paced online language learning resource serving the Department of Homeland Security, the National Institute of Health and 1 in 5 U.S. libraries, including Houston Public Library. Donna and Amy from the Houston Public Library's Community Outreach brought it to Mission Milby’s ESL class in a TFA computer lab. “Anything I think is a big need in the community, I push for,” Amy says.

The class is broken into 10 students at a time, "so everyone gets attention." Amy, speaking fluent Spanish, walks students through the Houston Public Library (HPL) and Mango Languages website for familiarity. Donna and Technology For All Program Specialist Ken provide technical support for the students, who use the lab’s computers and headphones to see, speak and hear English letters, words and phrases. This technique allows them to learn interactively and intuitively--the reason behind Mango Language's success as a learning tool.

As students watch videos and type their answers, they can also register for a library card. Since most official paperwork is in English, ESL students often face limited access to vital resources like libraries and identification documents, such as a Texas driver’s license. However, Amy and Donna have bilingual registration cards and brochures explaining what the library offers and how their cards work. They also can use any official I.D. to register—useful since so many have come from other states and countries—as long as they have proof of Texas address. “People usually just get their insurance card out of their car,” she says. “We want to be flexible in this position.”

As Ken reminds the classes they can use Mission Milby’s computer equipment in and outside of class, Amy smiles. “This is outreach.” Best of all, it’s free thanks to public resources like libraries and TFA labs.

If you'd like to support grassroots outreach, you can help.

Mission Milby Community Development Corporation is a nonprofit serving Houston’s Pecan Park and Greater East End neighborhoods. It offers classes on General Education Development, English as a Second Language, computers and more. For more information, call 713-454-6464 or visit 2220 Broadway Street.

“I didn’t find the right place until now.”

Magda

When Magda first head about Mission Milby and Technology For All (TFA) computer class, she was crying on the phone with a United Way representative. “I kept saying I would like to learn,” she remembers.

Like many of our first-time (and second and third-time) users, Magda was scared to be in front of computers even though she’d taken computer classes elsewhere. Unlike many of our users, her fear stemmed from a deeper place: Magda never went to school, and she's illiterate.

“When I moved to this country with my kids,” she says, “I dedicated my time to help them in any way, because I didn’t want to do to them what they [my parents] did to me.” Her son is a former Marine and her daughter is a Houston policewoman; she’s proud of them. “I want them to be proud of me."

They should be. Magda never feels sorry for herself or stops looking for improvement—no matter what. When her limitations depressed her, she got a therapist located on a bus route. In classes, she felt uncomfortable with other students and with asking questions, embarrassed of her lack of education. “It hurts,” she says. But she didn’t stop. “This is the first time in years I’ve started something without stopping because I felt uncomfortable.” After a few weeks of class, she’s talking about college.

Magda’s dedication is even more impressive: she’s taking computer basics and English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. Considering how nervous she used to be in classes—“I’d start shaking like a little kid—” taking two at once is a huge achievement. Fortunately, like many of our other students taking both classes, computer literacy helps her English skills. “I could speak it, but not spell it,” Magda says. “I think the computers are helping me with writing.”

They’re helping more than her writing. She’s gained so much confidence, her therapist wants to send TFA Program Specialist Ken a thank-you card. “Some people are interested in working. He’s interested in helping,” Magda says. “I hope this program lasts longer so it can help more people; there are a lot like us. We can’t find the right place. I looked everywhere, but I didn’t find the right place until now.”

If you’d like to support people overcoming lifelong disadvantages, you can help.

“It’s an advantage to start learning now.”

Alejandro

Deady Middle School, where Alejandro is in seventh grade, is a Texas Education Agency recognized school in Houston’s Pecan Park neighborhood. It’s also made headlines in 1999 for a fatal stabbing between two students, and again in 2002 when a student was abducted at a neighboring gas station. Meanwhile, the U.S. Census 2000 reported 40 percent of the neighborhood’s over 25 population had less than a ninth grade education.

With these elements in mind, Mission Milby Community Development Corporation (MMCDC) began Learn and Earn, a program that allows students to earn a desktop computer with 10 hours of basic computer instruction and 10 hours of community service. Students have a safe place to learn a new skill they can use on their computers—often the first their family owns. Through a partnership MMCDC, Technology For All (TFA) refurbishes and provides the computers for Learn and Earn. “My favorite part was learning what’s inside the computers,” Alejandro says. “I’m much more comfortable with them.”

TFA also works with Rice University to provide a free wireless network to Pecan Park, providing access on every level for these students.

Alejandro, who plans to create video games and is already researching college courses, says he will start ahead when school starts. “I’m excited to learn even more in class,” he says. “It’s an advantage to start learning now, and then keep learning.”

If you'd like to support programs that open the digital door for local youth, you can help.