Eastmont Computing Center: A Digital Lifeline

TechSoup recently visited the Eastmont Computing Center (ECC), which works to bring computers, the Internet, and a sense of community to residents of Oakland, California. The video and case study below offer a glimpse into a successful technology center that is helping students of all ages to connect to one another and bridge the digital divide.

Watch the Video

A short video about ECC's popular Seniors in Technology program. You can download a transcript of the video at the end of the article.

ECC Case Study

When Tony Fleming began planning for the Eastmont Computing Center in 1997, he thought he would be taking a short hiatus from his day job to open a community technology resource center. He didn't realize that ECC would become such a vital institution that he would become so intrinsically linked to over the next decade.

"I took leave from a company that I was working with to do this for eight months, and 10 years later, I'm still here," Fleming said.

Since then, this technology resource center has become a digital lifeline for many residents of Oakland, California who wouldn't otherwise have the same access to computers, the Internet, or a computer education.

ECC is a project of the Oakland Citizen's Committee for Urban Renewal (OCCUR), a nonprofit community-development and revitalization organization. Both Fleming and OCCUR see technology training as a key part of augmenting job opportunities and enhancing economic development in their city.

ECC set up shop inside what was then known as the Eastmont Mall, a largely abandoned shell of a shopping complex in one of Oakland's under-served neighborhoods. Along with a number of other social-service programs that occupy the building, ECC has played an important part in the revitalization of this once written-off shopping mall and the surrounding environs. The mall is now called the Eastmont Town Center to better reflect its civic and commercial uses.

Tech Offerings

ECC currently has 100 computers and 11 programs to serve the technology needs of its surrounding community. In a given week, 500 patrons take advantage of ECC's offerings, according to Fleming.

ECC's expansive rooms host a range of instructor-led workshops, from basic computer literacy to specific computer applications. With a number of senior housing facilities in the area, some of ECC's most popular courses are for the over-50 crowd.

Fleming notes while technology provides the initial draw, it's the sense of community and the human connections that develop between the seniors that keep them coming back. "We've had seniors who refused to leave that class, because it's more like a family. We've created a different approach to computing, and it leads into the improvement of the quality of lives."

The Center is also in proximity to several schools, making it a popular after-school destination for students. Alonzo Young is the Coordinator of the ECC's Computer Clubhouse, which offers youths ages 10 to 18 a setting where they can gain exposure to computers and put their skills to use in hands-on workshops. This computer lab is part of the Computer Clubhouse Network, a support network of youth-oriented computer centers around the world.

"We teach four major areas: multimedia (which includes audio and video production), Web development, and right now we're developing a new program, video-game design, which I'm really excited about, as well as graphic design," Young said.

The sense of community well-being is a vital part of what makes the Clubhouse valuable.

"The community is a challenged community," Fleming said. "There are large pockets of crime and other issues that face this community, but we happen to have become a haven in between a lot of that activity. People look to us as a retreat and a place to go, a destination in a community that has few of them."

The Center also offers a drop-in computing facility where patrons work on their own or with the help of a monitor who is available to provide tech guidance.

The Same Needs Amidst Changing Technology

When the ECC opened, the Internet was just beginning to gain popularity as a new tool for communications and commerce. It was a revolution for those who had computer and Internet access and the skills to take advantage of these tools. Yet those without the resources to buy a computer or get computer training were increasingly left out of this new information age.

ECC was among the original community technology centers that sought to close this digital divide.

Since then, a perception has emerged that the digital divide has narrowed to the point where the issue is no longer as urgent. The price of computers continues to drop and broadband Internet access is available in even remote parts of the United States. Yet the ongoing monthly subscription costs of broadband Internet access remain prohibitive for struggling, low-income individuals.

"The needs have not changed," Fleming said. "Computers and Internet skills are a baseline to being involved in society and being effective in business and being able to uncover resources as individuals. [People] now know that these skills are essential to information, and information is kind of the key to surviving in society these days."

OCCUR's executive director David Glover sees it as more than just a technology issue. "It's a civil rights issue for the twenty-first century," Glover said.

This notion that the digital divide is no longer a problem in the United States has led to an increased burden on ECC. "Due to kind of a retreat [of concern] from the digital divide and changes in funding, many of the organizations that were our contemporaries aren't around anymore. We've had to absorb the users that are looking for places to go to use computers," Fleming said.

Though the need for places like ECC has not changed, technology itself continues to evolve rapidly. Sustainability is a challenge for a large computer center like ECC. Keeping aging hardware running while staying relevant with current software is one of the biggest challenges for Fleming. "We're kind of dreading the day when our computers become so slow that they don't keep up or that the kids need faster, more multimedia-enriched environment-ready capabilities. And that day is rapidly approaching."

Young would like to see software and hardware vendors support ECC's efforts to keep their technology up-to-date so that the youths continue to gain skills that will be competitive in the job market. He also notes that an investment in youth will benefit vendors. "These are future customers that will buy their products once they understand the technology and see what it can do," he said.

Expanding and Catalyzing Technology

Fleming is looking to expand the technology center idea to other parts Oakland.

"We're building a model lab, and from that lab we're going to show the effectiveness of taking multi-sector services from a number of different organizations and allowing them to use the facility on a scheduled basis so that the residents in that particular facility can then benefit from a whole range of services," Fleming said.

Fleming is now working on a project called the East Bay Community Technology Catalyst. In this effort, he would like to open multi-use computer centers in other areas of the city to serve its diverse neighborhoods and populations.

"Our real new direction is to expand our services throughout the greater region," Fleming said. "So (ECC) will be our hub and we'll look at supporting other centers, whether they're in churches or recreation centers or housing developments, in ways that we can extend our level of service to them."