A Neighborhood Collaboration
June, 99
Trinity College believes that one of its greatest assets is its location in Hartford: our urban location provides exciting opportunities for hands-on learning and research for our students and for our faculty. We also believe that Trinity has an obligation to help make our community and our neighborhood a better place in which to live, learn, and earn. We are particularly excited about a number of opportunities we have to share some of our experiences and expertise in computing technology with our immediate neighborhood.
The "smart neighborhood" is a major component of a five-year Trinity initiative with a number of objectives, including:
- Creation of a communications support structure that can strengthen the links between Trinity, neighborhood schools, churches, businesses, and not-for-profit partners in the neighborhood
- Helping our neighbors to gain access and training to appropriate technology
- Encouraging technology-centered entrepreneurial efforts within the neighborhood
- Supporting educational programs throughout the neighborhood, including the Learning Corridor schools
- Developing self-sustaining ways to share technology and other expertise within the neighborhood
- Developing new ways for the neighborhood to make better use of information technology
Initial Services and Helping Us Plan
While this initiative will ultimately encompass activities with all of our neighbors, including businesses, schools, and individual residents, our first efforts will center on churches and not-for-profits in the neighborhood. Although Trinity has a lot of experience and expertise in the use of technology as a College, we don't claim to have an understanding of the computing needs of our neighbors. We do, however, have a sense of the kinds of services that are generally useful to most organizations starting to make more use of computing technology, particularly those that are interested in using technology to improve their communications with their neighbors and others.
For most organizations, the logical starting point will be connecting their existing computers to the Internet, setting up e-mail accounts for their staff, and creating a WWW site. (For some organizations, this may include installing a network within their building.) For the period of the grant, technical advice, access to e-mail and WWW services, training, and the installation and ongoing costs of Internet connectivity are available at no charge to participants in this neighborhood initiative.
Our current plans include the creation of a neighborhood technology center where we will offer training and other services that can help us work together to make the most of information technology. We hope and expect that you will help us in planning our "smart neighborhood" and that you will feel free to talk with us at Trinity and with your neighbors about the kinds of technology services that you think would best help your own organization and the neighborhood. If you currently have access to the Internet, you can find current information about this initiative right here, at www.hartnet.org/smartneighborhood.
Getting Started
We understand that technology needs and capabilities are different for every organization; we are asking each of our neighbors with an interest in this project to complete a brief survey dealing with their current use of technology and their sense of how they might make better use of it. On that form we also ask you for contact information so that we can arrange to meet with you at your organization to answer any questions and to arrange the delivery of services and training as appropriate. You can contact us by email, mail, or by phone.
At noon at Trinity College's Smith House a luncheon was held for the different
organizations who were interested in being involved in the college's Smart Neighborhood
Program. Many more organizations were invited to come than those who showed. However, the
college is presently working with these group of twelve organizations in order to more
quickly connect them to the internet and the college's services, in hopes to have the time
to invite other programs/organizations in.
Those who attended were (please note those who have addresses already):
CREC (Maryanne Pascone)- 522-9533
HART (Tricia Carlson)- 525-3449
Immanuel Pentecostal (Essie Styles)- 951-0889
Memorial Baptist Church (William Shay)- 247-6836
Parkville Senior Center (Margaret Merriman)- 232-7867
Salvation Army- Marshall House (Darcy Hall)- 543-8423
2nd Church of Christ Scientists (Rev. Lan Gordon)- 249-3807
Southend Community Services (Bob Rath)- 296-5068
St. Augustine Church (Alice Brennan)-522-7128
St. Augustine School (Michael Lupo)- 249-5661
Trust House (Sister Patricia Brewer)- 278-8387
Those who did not attend but have expressed interest in being involved:
Emmanuel Lutheran (Rev. John Corgan)- 525-0894
Update: July 8, 1999
Update: July 21, 1999
Trinity College Neighborhood Initiative
Smart Neighborhood Contacts
Carlos Espinosa
Phone: 297-4277
Email: Carlos.Espinosa@hartnet.org
Benjamin Todd
Phone: 297-2094
Email: Benjamin.Todd@trincoll.edu
Tito Victoriano (Speaks Spanish)
Phone: 297-2515
Email: Tito.Victoriano@trincoll.edu
John Langeland
Director of Information Technology
Email: John.Langeland@trincoll.edu
This page has been accessed times since June 16, 1999.
Last updated 08/23/00 .