I've had this same idea since I attended last year's Neighborhoods USA (NUSA)
conference in Phoenix, AZ where a community group called N.A.I.L.E.M.
<www.nailem.org> has been using e-mail to organize both the City of Phoenix and
the State of AZ to work towards promoting self-reliance, partnerships,
legislation changes, community marches, etc... and have done a very effective
job with a list-serve of about 400 people. I'd suggest checking out their site
to see for yourselves. Their organization could be the model for something we
develop here in Minneapolis.
One concern that I have, especially living in Central where the median income is
relatively lower than the rest of the city, is that even though we on this list
have access to e-mail and the luxury of internet service on our computers, many
more do not. We also need to look for ways to help other folks in our
neighborhoods to bridge that digital divide. I would suppose that this group of
people who don't have e-mail/internet/computer access are lower income,
immigrants, older folks etc. who may have not had the opportunity to learn about
computers, are scared of them, don't have the free income to purchase a computer
or internet service, etc. So our little community of wired neighbors all of a
sudden doesn't look so diverse, broad or inclusive.
I often fall into the trap of thinking that others think like I do and have what
I have because I do not feel that what I have or think is too much or too
extravagantly. It's easy to see the error in my thinking and many of us make
similar mistakes on a daily basis.
So my question is, How do we keep our feet on the ground while coming up with a
better mouse trap? How do we include a larger portion of the population into
this great idea we have? I don't personally have an answer to that one but I'm
sure that between the 400 or so of us that we could come up with a few ideas.
Might we start supporting our migrant community/social service centers to do
more and better computer literacy programs, maybe we could start working with
the MN D.O.C . to see about getting donated and refurbished computers from the
prisoners' technical training program, or maybe we could work with the AARP to
help train and encourage computer usage in the homes of the elderly as a way to
help them to interact and participate more easily in their community?
I'm sure we can come up with something workable to help share this great thing
we have in front of us. It would also be a wonderful step forward for the City
of Minneapolis to be able to offer yet another option for its citizens to
participate in the community.
Any ideas or volunteers?
Matthew Dufresne
Central
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