at Charter Oak Terrace, Hartford, CT

This is a copy of the TIIAP grant application which provides funds to administer the technology component of the Campus of Learners.

Executive Summary

This is a demonstration project intended for the Public Services (human services) primary application area and for the Lifelong Learning secondary application area. This project will provide residents of subsidized housing units in the city of Hartford with access to and training in the use of information resources, and provide mechanisms to support life-long learning activities for these under-served communities by creating connections with Hartford-area institutions of higher learning. Building upon existing partnerships with neighborhood groups, educational and arts organizations, private partnerships, and volunteer organizations, this project will demonstrate the role information resources delivered through the Internet can play in addressing the critical needs of the nation's poorest residents.

1) Problem Definition

The Campus of Learners initiative is an effort to provide residents of two of Hartford's low-income housing projects with educational and training opportunities appropriate for those trying to escape urban poverty and its associated problems. This initiative brings together a number of public and private agencies committed to rebuilding the lives of the residents of these units in the hope that the chain of dependence on public assistance can be broken through a coordinated training and support effort. The participants in this effort share a commitment but little else: they represent tenant's organizations, volunteer groups, staff from Hartford schools, staff from private schools, staff from state educational agencies, staff from Hartford housing authority, and private firms.

The success of the Campus of Learners is dependent in part upon the development of appropriate information resources and infrastructure to support the needs of the residents of these housing projects. Not surprisingly, access to information resources for the economically disadvantaged in Greater Hartford is extremely limited: the state of Connecticut does not operate a network backbone for schools or other educational institutions, the Hartford school district does not provide access to the Internet, and the lack of personal or corporate resources in some of the nation's poorest neighborhoods all contribute to a lack of access. For residents of Charter Oak and Rice Heights housing projects, the problem is further exacerbated by their location at the edge of the City of Hartford, with the nearest public access through a public library nearly two miles away.

But these residents are not without resources. Three educational institutions are located near the Rice Heights/Charter Oak housing projects: an elementary school operated by the City of Hartford School District (Mary Hooker), a regional vocational high school operated by the State Department of education (A. I. Prince Technical), and a community-technical college (Capital Community-Technical) operating under its own charter. Trinity College, a private non-sectarian liberal arts college is located about a mile from these housing projects. These educational institutions, along with neighborhood groups and other organizations will provide access to training, computing facilities, staff expertise, and other resources to support the Campus of Learners. But with the exception of Trinity College, these organizations are not appropriately networked or endowed with technical support staff.

These information systems need to support two constituencies: the residents of the projects, and the participants working with the residents to bring them into the economic mainstream. The residents need access to networked computing hardware for training purposes as well as for access to information resources (such as job opportunities, support programs, and neighborhood or school activities); the participants require mechanisms to better coordinate their resources and efforts, deliver information to residents and other Campus of Learners participants, and technical support to help address programmatic efforts. In addition to these immediate needs, there is a need to develop information resources that can be accessed from other locations: many of the residents of these housing units will ultimately move into other neighborhoods but will still require access to information resources developed by the Campus of Learners. Similarly, we expect additional private business partners in Greater Hartford to use these same mechanisms to provide information on job opportunities for residents. We also expect the Campus of Learners to develop resources that will help keep residents in touch with opportunities for ongoing education and job training opportunities after they have left the housing project.

2) Technical Approach

We intend to address the information requirements for all participants in the Campus of Learners through Internet resources, using primarily the WWW and electronic mail. Internet access to all relevant locations and organizations will be provided through dedicated leased line services. For casual use by single individuals, Trinity College will also provide access through an existing dial-in facility utilizing PPP. Trinity is served through an existing T1 circuit for its own Internet access, and will in turn provide Internet access to all participants through its existing connection. Seven sites will initially be equipped with 56kb frame-relay connections to Trinity: the Hartford Housing Authority, the Charter Oak Tenant's Organization, Mary Hooker Elementary School, A. I. Prince Vocational training school, a YMCA branch, Capitol Community-Technical College, and L.E.A.P (Leadership Education, Athletics in Partnership). Other facilities may be added as the project develops.

Trinity College already operates WWW and mail servers to support educational and not-for-profit organizations through the "Trinity Information Exchange" (TIE) which was established in 1995 to promote improved collaboration and information flow between education, research, and arts organizations in Greater Hartford. Using existing hardware resources, Trinity will provide access to appropriate organizations and individuals affiliated with the Campus of Learners. TIE participants have mounted their own WWW pages with assistance from Trinity staff; those same resources and training will be made available to Campus of Learners participants to help them develop and maintain their own WWW presence. The reliance upon standard Internet services guarantees both interoperability with the NII, and the ability to enlarge the scale of services to other groups and individuals.

This initiative provides the staffing required to provide the training to use and maintain this infrastructure and information resources during the course of this project. Trinity College will operate the servers and upgrade facilities as appropriate to the needs of this project; these groups will be able to support themselves with internal resources at the conclusion of the project. If these information resources prove to be valuable assets to the residents, we expect the ongoing costs of network connections and the costs for maintenance and upgrade of networking hardware to be assumed by the participating organizations. The information available through this service will deal with public information resources rather than individual data. Safeguards are already in place at Trinity for dealing with confidential data and for the privacy of electronic mail.

We envision this project requiring two years to complete after the awarding of funding. Certain staff participants and some students from A. I. Prince have already been given access to electronic mail and the WWW server in place at Trinity through dial-in facilities. Beginning in September of 1996 with the hiring of staff, we expect to have all frame relay connections installed and operational within three months; internal wiring at all sites and computer laboratories will be completed within the first three to six months. Training of the use of these facilities and in the development of information resources will continue throughout the 24 months of the project.

3) Ability to Serve as a Model

Many private and public organizations provide support services to the urban poor, most with a focus on a specific need or service. The Campus of Learners initiative is an effort to provide greater coordination across these agencies and a renewed emphasis on the value of life-long learning in the struggle to escape welfare. While there exists growing disparity of access to information and technology resources for the urban poor, a commitment to utilize standard tools available through the Internet can greatly improve the access and quality of services available at relatively low cost. Using the WWW as a mechanism to disseminate information regarding training, support, and job opportunities, in conjunction with electronic mail to help coordinate activities, this project will demonstrate to other communities the role that access to simple information resource strategies can have on services provided to and the quality of life of the urban poor. Several of the Campus of Learners participants have extensive experience in the delivery of information services and/or educational resources to the urban poor, but we know of no effort of this scale to bring together public and private partners to address the needs of this community. We also know of major initiatives to address the needs of individuals and groups of rural poor, but know of no comprehensive effort for the urban poor. We believe the focus upon the information and educational requirements of those in subsidized housing is unique, and believe further that the attempt to use this neighborhood focus to organize the efforts of various partners is also unique to the several Campus of Learners.

Every major city in the United States has subsidized housing projects that generate neighborhoods comprised of some our poorest citizens. Many of these neighborhoods have little or no access to the Internet. We believe this effort can demonstrate how to improve both their access to information resources, educational opportunities, and new strategies to break the cycle of urban poverty.

4) Applicant Qualifications

Trinity College has a well-articulated campus network appropriate for a highly-selective liberal arts college. It has also been an active participant in a variety of networking initiatives beyond its campus boundaries. The Trinity Center for Neighborhoods (funded by a 1995 HUD grant) provides network access and support (through dial up facilities) to five neighborhood groups in the Greater Hartford area in support of research on problems of urban neighborhoods. Trinity has also created the Trinity Information Exchange to support enhanced cooperation and information exchange between Hartford's major cultural arts, research and educational organizations. That initiative provides both technical (networking) support and support for the use of networked information resources and for the creation of such resources. The Trinity Information Exchange operates a WWW server and provides support for the creation and maintenance of WWW pages through a dedicated staff position funded by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. Trinity is also involved in a variety of other networking initiatives to provide access to several K-12 schools and faculty in the Greater Hartford area.

A new staff member will be hired at Trinity dedicated to addressing the networking and training needs of the organizations and individuals attempting to provide support for residents; this person will understand inter-networking strategies and resources, and have the ability to train others. This position will draw upon existing staff expertise and resources, and work in close conjunction with other staff engaged in support of other networking initiatives in the Hartford area. Trinity's involvement in networking initiatives in Greater Hartford, as well as the support from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving indicate the confidence of the Hartford community for the applicant's ability to mount this effort. In addition, several of the Campus of Learners participants have their own extensive information resources staff; their endorsement of this proposal also speaks to Trinity's credibility in this effort.

5) Partnerships and Community Support

The Campus of Learners initiative is an evolving partnership between public and private educational institutions, neighborhood groups, private firms, and other agencies. Part of the challenge and the potential reward for this initiative stems from the diverse participants involved through this proposal. Several of the Trinity Information Exchange organizations have existing educational outreach initiatives that would build upon neighborhood access to resources; the primary educational participants in the Campus of Learners are eager to improve the quality of services they offer tenants through the use of improved access and improved information resources. In addition, the private organizations involved in Campus of Learners provide an array of services and support, all of which would benefit by better use of information technology and through better coordination of activities with other Campus of Learners participants.

6) Support for End Users

There are two primary groups of end users: all generations of residents of the housing project, and the staff/memberships of participating organizations working to address the needs of the residents. The demographics of the residents for Charter Oak are grim: of the 625 families in Charter Oak Terrace, 80% are headed by single mothers, most between the ages of 19 and 24. Only 7% of the residents are gainfully employed; the rest depend upon AFDC, Social Security, SI, HDSS, aid for the disabled, or other publicly assisted programs. There is additional urgency with recent changes in Connecticut's welfare statutes that terminate all benefits if employment has not been secured within 21 months. Hartford's schools scored the worst in state standardized tests last year, Mary Hooker's scores were lowest in the Hartford district.

As articulated by neighborhood groups and the tenant's organization in Campus of Learner planning sessions, these residents need both skills and access to information. Opportunities for education and information about employment opportunities and day care are a major part of services requested by the residents. The lack of technological infrastructure at the schools and other support organizations inhibits coordination and relegates existing technological resources to "computer training" rather than training in the use of the "information appliance."

We envision an environment in which all residents of the Campus of Learners make routine use of the Internet as a primary resource for their own needs; we expect residents to gain familiarity with networked information resources in the context of ongoing opportunities for learning through a variety of services offered through the Internet. We also expect residents who move from the housing projects to continue to gain access to information resources provided by the Campus of Learners participants through public access facilities located in their new community or in their own home.

Those supporting the Campus of Learners currently rely upon meetings, paper mail, and other ad hoc strategies to coordinate activities; no meaningful information resources are currently shared or maintained. We expect support staff and agencies to share information with traditional Internet tools, including e-mail and WWW resources. We expect staff to share information about programs and initiatives through these resources; we also expect to use the WWW server as a mechanism to solicit input and suggestions from residents for support activities. We expect the WWW pages to be the primary coordinating strategy for programs of the Campus of Learners.

7) Evaluation and Dissemination

The Campus of Learners initiative represents an experiment in housing strategies as well as an opportunity to evaluate the role of advanced information resources in addressing the needs of the urban poor; in some instances it will be difficult to disentangle the effects attributable to this information initiative from those of the Campus of Learners initiative itself. All aspects of the Campus of Learners initiative, including those related to information resources, will be disseminated and evaluated in the context of the Campus of Learners through program review as well as through publication through the Internet for use by other communities attempting to address the needs of the urban poor.

We will carefully monitor usage on the part of the participants and the residents of information services provided through this initiative. Counts of e-mail traffic and WWW server "hits" provide a reasonable measure of the level of access for this information resource. From another perspective, the availability of pages provided through the WWW server indicate the development of information resources intended to address the needs of these residents. A major element in the evaluation of this project will be related to the nature of resources that are made available to these residents; who actually developed the information resource, how often was it used, and did it provide benefits to the residents of the project are all matters that need to be part of this initiative's evaluation. The Campus of Learners steering committee will be responsible to track the use of these services, and to evaluate through surveys and/or other mechanisms the ultimate value of these resources to the residents of the Campus of Learners. Members of the steering committee include educational staff familiar with evaluation techniques.

8) Reducing Disparities in Access to and Use of the NII

The residents of Charter Oak and Rice Heights are without meaningful access to information resources. The primary elementary school facility that serves this neighborhood has no access to the Internet; the vocational high school has no internal networking, even in their computer laboratory. Other organizations, such as LEAP and the YMCA which provide access to computing facilities have no connection to the Internet. While some of the lack of access is attributable to economic distress, there are significant computing and other resources that exist within this neighborhood or available through Campus of Learners participating organizations.

The poverty of the residents is a major and obvious factor limiting the use of the Internet; it is not however the only or even the most immediate barrier to the use of the NII by Campus of Learners participants. The lack of a commitment from the various state, federal, and private agencies to exploit and standardize on a common communications strategy is a major contributing factor to the lack of access for this group. The lack of Internet access in a school with computing resources and an existing internal network (Mary Hooker), and the lack of any networking within the vocational school equipped with otherwise reasonable computing resources cannot be attributed to a lack of financial resources alone.

Similarly, public agencies like the Housing Authority of the City of Hartford use internal networks that have no access to the Internet and as a result impede coordination of support and other activities across the various agencies that must work cooperatively to address the needs of the urban poor. One of the great strengths of the standards imposed by the Internet is its ability to facilitate communications across disparate organizations. Given the lack of common management structures, the NII provides the requisite level of coordination to improve information flow through mechanisms like e-mail and the WWW.

Our primary motivation in the development of these information resources is to address the needs of these residents; and we believe the agencies involved with the Campus of Learners will be able to continue this initiative beyond the demonstration project. We also believe this effort will illustrate to private and governmental agencies the value of a commitment to the standard communications strategies provided by the Internet, an effort which can be replicated in many settings across the nation.