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Grant will allow seniors in technology program in city
By Kara Chalmers
A partnership, consisting of three organizations, has given a grant to the Saratoga Senior Center that will help Mary Goulart, the executive director for the Saratoga Area Senior Coordinating Council, realize her dream of starting a "seniors in technology" program at the center. Goulart's dream is to have a computer lab located on-site, where seniors can learn about the Internet, email and computers in general.
The Saratoga Senior Center is one of seven local senior centers to receive a grant from Pacific Bell, the Council on Aging of Santa Clara County and the Digital Clubhouse Network. The grant will fund "senior learning centers" at the senior centers and includes funding for three computers, a printer, one year of high speed DSL Internet access and training at each location.
Pacific Bell has committed to donate a total of $50,000--just under $8,000 to each newly created senior learning center--to pay for the Internet connections, the computers and the printers. The Council on Aging, the nonprofit organization that plans and develops health and allied supportive services to the county's senior and younger disabled populations, contributed $10,000 total to the program and will be responsible for grant resources. The Digital Clubhouse, a nonprofit with centers designed to bring together people of all backgrounds to learn and teach each other about information technology, will provide the training.
Seniors make up one of the fastest growing user populations of the Internet, according to Beauchman, and there are many senior-focused resources available on the Internet today, such as the AARP website. He said seniors got a slow start with the Internet, but now they are catching up.
Goulart said the grant will be helpful for the Saratoga center and is an "excellent starting point." The grant will help her get a lab set up and running and she hopes that the generosity of the three organizations will spur others to help as well, especially with on-going teaching for the seniors.
"It's great for us," Goulart said.
At the Saratoga Senior Center, the additional space that a new modular building has provided will allow Goulart to set up the learning center in one of the center's offices.
"The timing has just been really wonderful," Goulart said. She said because of security reasons, she would not have the lab set up in the modular building.
Federal Community Development Block Grant money funded the $72,500 purchase of the 24-by-60-square-foot portable building for the senior center, which is now located in the parking lot next to the Adult Care Center. Half of the modular building will be used as a classroom and half will be a conference.
Beauchman said he hopes that the senior learning centers will be functioning by the end of February.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
