First Time Computers

Donations of used computers, components, and related equipment and materials typically come from law firms, trade associations, non-profits, and families with old computers they wish to put to good use. We wipe the hard drive clean, reload basic software, and complete repairs and updates as needed. By the time we complete work on a computer, all of its basic functions have been thoroughly tested. All computers are Internet ready. If a computer cannot be refurbished or is too old, we salvage re-usable parts and dispose of what remains in accordance with Environmental Protection Agency requirements.

In deciding who gets our computers, we give top priority to children and youth participating in computer use training courses such as word processing offered by several partners. These partners include DC area groups such as Byte Back, Capitol Hill Computer Corner, Digital Bridge, the Carlos Rosario Schools, and Computer Core. We focus on participants in these courses who lack computers at home and cannot afford to purchase them.

Our second priority is to provide computers to non-profits with programs for low-income children and youth that need computers on site for the programs they run. Included here are a number of child care and after care programs serving children from age 3 to 12.

We provide the remaining computers to people who hear about us by word of mouth. If they are eligible, we place them on a waiting list. We screen prospective recipients primarily by zip code, focusing on neighborhoods with the most intense poverty.

Though most recipients pick up their computers at our shop, we deliver many computers directly to homes and organizations. We walk the recipients through setting up the system and, to the extent needed, provide the basics on computer use. We run recipients through a six-page guidance document that describes options for Internet access, and ways to keep their new computers running well, including how to deal with spyware and viruses. We suggest a donation of $35 for a computer.

If a family or organization can arrange for Internet access, we set up the connection and demonstrate how to get to a website and how to use search engines to locate information on the Internet.

If our computers develop problems, we offer to repair them. As time permits, we do home visits for those who are unable to bring their computers in. If we cannot repair a computer, we replace it. We provide these services on a no-cost basis. At present, we do not offer repair services for computers not provided by us, except for community organizations with a mix of computers from us and from other sources.

We are currently providing Internet access free of charge for one year to computer recipients who are unable to afford online access. To date, we have provided several dozen such "scholarships" in the form of subscriptions to Internet Service Providers [ISPs] such as PeoplePC, NetZero, Earthlink, America On Line, and Verizon [for DSL service].

Given the critical importance of Internet access, we are currently seeking funds to increase the number of internet scholarships we can provide to recipients who would not otherwise be able to take advantage of the Internet. Each computer we donate comes with an Ethernet card or port. Modems are available on request.

From the beginning, we have focused on desktop computers. The relatively few laptops donated to us have been reserved primarily for college-bound seniors at high schools in low-income neighborhoods, and students from these neighborhoods who are already in college. We have delivered several dozen in this manner so far, and plan to expand this effort as the number of suitable laptops donated to us increases.

In the summer of 2006, we began a hands-on training program in refurbishing desktop computers for small groups of unemployed youth. The training focuses on triaging incoming computers, loading software, adding/replacing components, and the final quality control check. All the refurbishers at First Time Computers are graduates of our training courses.

An initiative planned for 2008-2009 will seek to build the educational impacts of our core program, Computers for Low-Income Kids [CLIK]. It will include adding educational content to our standard software package, expanding the orientation we offer to computer recipients to include a hands-on exploration of our new educational software offerings, upgrading our in-house refurbisher training, and implementing systems of program feedback and assessment of the overall impacts of CLIK, including its educational impacts. The goal is to turn our computer systems into "home learning centers," building on an approach initially developed by Computers for Youth, a program like ours in New York City.

Beginning soon, we will begin offering community service opportunities for students from area schools, colleges, and directly from the low-income communities we serve. If funds are available, we will pay interns a stipend to cover their expenses. Students will learn by being paired up with our paid staff, and by working closely with them on all aspects of preparing computers for delivery.

Because the needs are so great, and because used computers are generally abundant, we believe strongly in supporting people who want to start programs sharing our objectives. To date, we have assisted three other groups developing similar programs in the DC area. We plan to develop a set of "how to" materials to individuals and organizations both within and outside the Washington DC area planning to start similar programs.

We plan to develop a means of surveying computer recipients to assess how well our refurbished computers do in the real world, to check on how these computers might be made more useful, and to seek general feedback from recipients. We also hope to survey recipients on how they actually use the computers we provide, and to collect examples of how our computers have helped recipients with their school work. This information will make it possible for us to evaluate our programs and make improvements. Ideally, some time down the road, we would develop a research tool that will enable us to tell whether children in families with our computers fare any better in school and in the longer term than comparable children in families without access to computers in their homes.