PCF actively supports publicly accessible Community Centers, Daycare Centers, Churches and other spaces that accommodate students for distance learning. These same spaces often will allow adults to make use of their facilities (and our equipment) to get online to pay bills, research, apply for jobs, training, and so on.
Distance Learning ‘Pods’
PCF is actively working with community partners that accommodate students to learn online while their parents go to work or run errands.
- We work with smaller community organizations; not the XXL District Pods.
- These spaces provide some level of supervision while the students learn online.
- Typical installations involve running wires, installing Ethernet jacks, providing WiFi routers and/or range extenders.
- Students typically bring their SDP provided Chromebook. PCF typically provides one or more desktop and/or laptop computers in case equipment is broken or left at home.
- Often time a printer is added to the network as well.
Daycare Centers
PCF is actively working with Daycare Centers to provide them with the technology they need to support their students’ online activities.
- Like other learning institutions, Daycare Centers are struggling to survive.
- PCF believes they offer critical support in the communities we serve.
- PCF supports qualifying Daycare with the computers and networking needed for their students to get online.
Community Centers
Community Centers provide their respective communities with access to the internet. Families can use these publicly accessible spaces to get online for job training, apply for benefits, pay bills, research, and so on.
- PCF will support these places for as long as they do not charge to access the computers/internet.
Home & School Association (H&SA) Rooms
There are many reasons why we like to set up mini labs into H&SA Rooms inside schools.
- Schools love to get the parents or caregivers to come to the school.
- Besides the computers, we typically install a working printer as well. This allows students to print their homework or other materials when needed (we’ve found that families often lack a working printer, even when they do have a working computer at home).
- The computers are part of the school network and thus behind SDP firewall, which reduces our concerns about how the equipment is being used.
Mini-Labs News:
PCF Support of Programs and Community Centers
Besides working with schools and families directly, PCF is committed to help Community Centers, Churches, After School programs, and anyone else willing to make computers available to their communities free of charge. That includes supporting [...]
One Way to Spend Your Spring Break…
Western Suburbs Chapter volunteers Ashwin and Srikar chose to spend time volunteering for PCF during their short Spring Break holiday this year. With the help of their families, they met PCF at our storage facility [...]
10-Unit Lab at South Philly Community Center
Last Friday, PCF Director Jan Deruiter joined PCF's Western Suburb Chapter members Srikar and Ashwin for the installation of a 10-unit lab in a South Philadelphia Community Center. The Community Center offers a variety of [...]
Coatesville Better Tomorrows Mini Lab
Today, the PCF Western Suburbs Chapter team of Srikar and Ashwin installed their second Community Center at Better Tomorrows, a national organization that empowers communities around the country, including Coatesville, PA. The organization's social coordinator, [...]
Coatesville ‘Kids to College’ Mini Lab
This week, the PCF Western Suburbs crew installed their first Community Center Lab in Coatesville, Pa. Ashwin and Srikar, who head up the PCF Western Suburbs chapter, identified the Program to support and solicited the [...]
Community Ctr for HIV Positive Youth in Southwest
Pastor Brawner, who runs the Haven Paniel church in North Philadelphia where we installed a 10-unit lab, also runs a support center for HIV positive youth in Southwest Philadelphia. The mission of Haven Youth Center [...]
Computer Lab at Haven Peniel Church
This publicly accessible computer lab at the Haven Paniel Methodist Church in North Philadelphia was referred to us by the Brewerytown Community Center (where we recently installed a lab). Pastor Brawner also runs a Youth [...]
15-Unit Lab at a Brewerytown Community Center
PCF installed a 15-unit computer lab at the Brewerytown Sharswood NAC/CDC, located at 30th & Master Street in the Brewerytown section of Philadelphia. The facility serves a community of over 8,000 of which 51% live [...]
Laptops for the Village of the Arts & Humanities
PCF received a request from the Village for some laptop computers. When we learned that the laptops were needed for programming and web development courses being taught over the summer, we jumped at the opportunity. [...]
30+ Laser Printers to Teachers/Centers in Need
PCF has been busy distributing and installing Laser Printers to schools and community centers in need. In many schools, teachers only have access to the printer in their school's main office, which means they have [...]
PhillyKids is Looking for Part-Time Worker/s
The Philadelphia Children's Foundation is looking to fill a part time position as soon as possible. Philadelphia Children’s Foundation Elementary School Technology Program Development and Instruction Position Description Background PCF is a non-profit organization of people [...]
Mini Lab Installation in Kensington
Right next to Cramp Elementary school, whom we supplied with classroom computers in the past, is the Schmidt Recreation Center. The Center helps students after school with homework and other programs. When we contacted Cramp [...]
PCF’s New State-of-the-Art Refurbishing Process
We could have used a few different titles for this post such as "How To Save Yourself 60+ Minutes Per Machine", or "Fast and Error-Free Refurbishing" or "How DAO Technologies Saved PCF !" among others. [...]
Classroom Computers & Mini-Lab at W. Cramp
Thanks to our donors and volunteers, PCF was able to install 30 computers into various classrooms and the Family Resource Room at William Cramp Elementary. Prior to installing the computers, PCF provided Cramp with 8 [...]
Houston Library Computers
PCF has had the fortune of working with Henry H. Houston Elementary school quite a bit in the past. They were our second Classroom Computers program installation plus we have helped them with iPads, the [...]
Publicly Accessible Computers & Printers Inside Schools
One of the things we observed from installing computers into the homes of families was the absence of working printers. We learned that depending on the school, most students do not have a computer at home.* And amongst those [...]