Graduates of HopeworksHardware build their own computers.
By STEPHANIE LODER

CAMDEN - The way business owner Carlos Vazquez sees it, he is just "giving back to the community" by taking part in a pilot computer program funded by grant money. But for a handful of inner-city youth at Hopeworks 'N Camden, it is definitely more.

The pilot program called "Hopeworks Hardware", is not only teaching inner city kids how to build and repair computers. It is also helping them building their own personal computer to take home for free.

"This pilot program teaches youth how to do basic computer repair. More importantly, this program teaches youth that they are in charge of the equipment and not vice a versa. They are able to reconfigure, repair and alter their own computer. This is a program of capacity building--both in skill and in self-esteem," said Father Jeff Putthoff, the director of Hopeworks N Camden on State Street.

Vazquez, a member of Holy Name Church, is the owner of Camden Computers, Inc. on Admiral Wilson Boulevard. His company is an authorized educational Microsoft & Wordperfect reseller as well as an authorized IBM reseller. "We wanted to do something for the kids and I thought it would be nice to do something for the kids in the city where I live," he said.

Vazquez brought the computer parts and equipment to Hopeworks and helped youth assemble their computers. Under the pilot program, youth are trained to do computer assembly. Once trained, they then get a working computer monitor (thanks to PSE&G) and $650 to order brand new components for a new computer. On MONDAY night at the Hopeworks office here, they BUILT computers - with Fr. Jeff and Vazquez assisting, then took the computers home.

"The great outcome of this program is that youth actually identify and then order brand new components and then build their very own computer on the last day of training," Fr. Jeff explained. "They walk away with knowledge, equipment and most importantly self-esteem. Five youth participated in this session and as many as 10 are expected for the next session, he said. Each youth has to finish an introductory training in digital media and HTML computer programming.

"All youth also finish their own personal web site. This prepares youth for this program," said Fr. Jeff. The project is funded through United Way which provided the HopeworksHardware money for the equipment. Also, Public Service Electric & Gas company (PSE&G) provided the monitors and keyboards. The training was provided by CCI (Camden Computers Inc) and was made possible by generous benefactors, Father Jeff said.

What did the kids who participated think about the program? "A computer is something I will be able to take with me to college," said Javier Colon, 17, a member of Holy Name Church as he worked on his computer. "Right now, with this computer I've built, I can do school work, check my email and just get connected." Lilliana Quintana, 15, a member of St. Anthony of Padua in Camden said she planned to use her computer for homework. She currently attends a Camden County technical school. "Now that I have a computer, the possibilities are endless," she said.

Fr. Jeff said he'd like to hear from anyone who might want to help keep the program operating. "Ideally, we would like to offer this training to any youth in our program. Imagine, instead of giving a computer to a youth, we can actually teach a youth to build and maintain their own hardware. It is a tremendous skill. We would like to grow this pilot program into HopeworksHardware where we have full time computer repair training," Fr. Jeff said.

HopeworksHardware allows youth to actually work the hardware/equipment side of the digital age, he added. "Much of what we do at Hopeworks is software or media based. We build and maintain web sites, we design animations and we run a GIS (Geographic Information Systems) training program. All of this is working with a computer to gain some sort of output. With HopeworksHardware, we are allowing youth to actually tap into the computer itself. It is very exciting.

For more information or to help out, contact Fr. Jeff at Jeff@hopeworks.org mailto:Jeff@hopeworks.org, WWW.HOPEWORKS.ORG or 856-365-HOPE.