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Mission & History
CompuTech for Humanity (CFH) is a grassroots, 501 (c)
(3) nonprofit organization that is dedicated to
charitable and educational purposes.
CFH boasts a multi-cultural group of volunteers
that include individuals with various disabilities.
CompuTech for Humanity was
founded to bring computer technology access to
low-income handicapped individuals and low-income family
with children. CompuTech for Humanity also delivers
education supplies and refurbished computers to
developing nations to promote literacy and interest in
learning. Our aim is to help close the gap between the
technology-empowered communities and the
technology-excluded communities on our planet and help
reduce e-waste in our community.
CompuTech for Humanity
was founded by Elizabeth and Joseph Ogbomon. They got
married in 1997 and two weeks after their first wedding
anniversary Joseph survived a
catastrophic auto accident and suffered spinal
cord injury that left him quadriplegic. Few months later
he registered with West Side center for independent
living center – Computer Project for some computer
training.
After
graduation he was employed by a reputable insurance
company in the city of Los Angeles as a computer help
desk support analyst. A year later his department was
moved to Cedar Rapids Iowa and was consequently laid
off. Now jobless and wheelchair bound, he sought support
from an organization called Wheels for Humanity.
Ironically, while seeking maintenance assistance for his
wheelchair he became a volunteer for the organization.
Inspired by the success of Wheels for Humanity, it
became the model for what is now called CompuTech for
Humanity.
In
re-building his life he discovered how access to the
Internet improved his quality of life. He was able to
search the web for services, support and became less
isolated as a disabled person. He wanted to give that
same kind of technology access to others who have
limited mobility but are financially unable to afford a
personal computer. CompuTech for Humanity was born and
grew out of his growing awareness of the importance of
computer access for disabled individuals and how
technology resources can be recycled to benefit the
disabled community.
Working at home, along with volunteers, he started
refurbishing computers received from friends and
associates who had no use for their old computers. CFH
began giving away computers to disabled individuals in
need and spread the news through word of mouth and at
weekly Northridge Hospital Spinal Cord Injury support
group meetings, led by Dr. Sandra Rudnick Ph.D. Priority
for receiving computers was given to those who were
shut-in. His 1994 hand control equipped minivan
customized for his limited mobility serves as the pick
up and delivery vehicle for donations and delivery of
computers.
It is a truism that computer literacy has become an
essential prerequisite for "being educated" in this
century. Almost every job today requires at least some
knowledge of computers - a societal transformation as
significant as the Industrial Revolution. For children
to reach their full potential in this new world, they
must acquire a certain level of comfort and competence
in using computers. Families need access to computer
technology in their homes: only at home are family
members able to have the time needed to build computer
skills, acquire information, develop their own
creations, and communicate with others.
Students
in a nation-wide study by Education Week (May 2001)
reported learning more on their computers at home. Yet
today's large disparity in home computer access means
millions of low-income children and their families are
being left behind, making it ever more difficult for
them to participate fully in the digital information
age. CFH is aware of this disparity as a result makes
provision of free refurbish computer for low-income
families with children.
According to Joseph Ogbomon “I am so lucky to live in a
digital age. Advanced digital technology enriches my
daily life and makes my existence full of meaning.
Without computers and the Internet, I cannot imagine how
I could spend every day in my wheelchair. Disability is
still a painful experience but the joy, opportunity and
convenience that the Internet brings me is also
unlimited. I earnestly wish that every disabled person
and children from poor homes in the world will someday
have a computer of their own so they can have the same
chance to make full use of their talents and will feel
the love and equality between human beings which I now
experience every day of my life. Knowing that for
disabled people, computers and the Internet are nothing
less than the very best of God’s gifts. In Cyberspace or
internet the differences between high and low, rich and
poor, disabled and able-bodied all melt away.” |
