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 The SHELTRS Project has received attention on both the
local and the national levels. Of particular note are the
recognition received from Congressman
Doggett and the Computerworld
Smithsonian Program. One of the SHELTR site
tutors has also been recognized by the KVUE
Five Who Care program.
Congressman Lloyd Doggett U.S. House of Representatives, 10th District, Texas Congressman Doggett has been a supporter of various initiatives and organizations in Austin that support children and families. Congressman Doggett announced the grant award from TIIAP to the Office for the Education of Homeless Chilren and Youth and has visited one of the SHELTRS sites. The following comments are taken from remarks made by Mr. Doggett upon his visit and in the press release announcing the grant award. "While on a recent visit to the Austin Children's Shelter, I was deeply moved not only by the heartbreaking stories of some of the children living at the Shelter, but also by the heartwarming care they receive from the hard-working staff I visited with. Some of the kids I met shared with me their ambitions for the future -- from fighting fires and healing the sick, to flying planes and launching into space. Their dreams became even more poignant when I learned of some of the situations these children have already had to face in their young lives. We must, as a community, do everything in our power to help these youngsters achieve their hopes for the future. The folks at the Shelter are doing their part by providing help with homework, obtaining necessary records, and communicating with the children's schools and teachers -- all vital and important facets of a child's early education…." "[The] SHELTRS Project [Support for Homeless Education: Linking Technology Resources to Shelters] is helping facilities in our community, such as the Austin Children's Shelter, acquire and expand technology resources to help students experiencing emergency homeless situations keep up with their peers in school. Young people who do not have computers in the home, much less permanent homes, should not be left behind. They should be allowed the same access to information and resources as their classmates. Studies have shown that students without access to computers and the Internet do not fare as well in school as those who have access to high-tech resources. The SHELTRS staff and volunteers are working hard to place critical technical and on-line resources in the hands of Austin children experiencing homelessness." "We should not leave anyone out from participating in the
ongoing technological revolution, even those who lack a
permanent home," stated Doggett. "This unique project will
enable students living in homeless shelters access to the
same information and resources available to their peers who
have computers at home," said Doggett. I salute the SHELTRS
project for bringing together partners from throughout the
community to improve services to students experiencing
homelessness," Doggett concluded. Computerworld Smithsonian Program The Smithsonian Institution and a member of the Computerwold Smithsonian Awards Chairmen's Committee have recognized the SHELTRS Project as an innovative user of information technology. Nearly 3,000 projects were originally nominated to the program. Eight hundred of these projects from around the world, including the SHELTRS Project, were invited to submit a description of their work (a Case Study) to the Computerworld Smithsonian Awards for this year's recognition. On February 3, we were notified that we had been selected, along with 444 other projects, as Laureates for the Class of 2000 Computerworld Smithsonian Program. The SHELTRS Project is a Laureate in one of the largest categories, the Education and Academia category. Each year the Computerworld Smithsonian Program identifies and honors both men and women whose visonary use of information technology produces positive social, economic, and educational change. Now in its twelfth year, the Computerworld Smithsonian Program (CWSP) is considered the most prestigious awards program in the information technology industry. The SHELTRS Project was nominated because Southwestern Bell Communications, a member of the Computerworld Smithsonian Awards Chairmen's Committee, felt that our innovative use of information technology was of great historical value and worthy of being included in the Permanent Research Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. The Chairmen's Committee is comprised of 100 Chairmen, Presidents, or CEO's of leading information technology companies from around the world. For a complete listing of the members of the Chairmen's Committee, please visit the program's Internet site. The SHELTRS Project Case Study was catalogued and included in the Annual Collection which was formally presented to the Permanent Research Collection of the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution during the Spring awards presentation on April 2 and 3. The presentation ceremony was held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Each Laureate was honored with the Computerworld Smithsonian Medal. The judging process is done by a panel of independent judges. The judges receive only the responses to the Case Study questions, and rank each nominee on the strength of its impact and its level of social merit. Every project in the Collection becomes part of a public recognition campaign to ensure that all nominations receive attention from national and local media as innovations that are changing our lives in positive ways. Laureates are eligible for additional recognition from the Computerworld Smithsonian Program. On April 13, 2000 five projects from each of the Computerworld Smithsonian Program categories were selected as finalists, and invited to a gala function in Washington, D.C. on June 5, 2000. At that time, one project from each category was awarded the Computerworld Smithsonian Program Award for its achievements in its category. The ten categories that are awarded are Business and Related Services; Education and Academia; Environment, Energy and Agriculture; Finance, Insurance and Real Estate; Government and Non-Profit Organizations; Manufacturing; Media, Arts and Entertainment; Medicine; Science; and Transportation. The SHELTRS Project received a trophy as a CWSP Finalist. a listing of all the awards given can be found on the Computerworld Smithsonian Program's website. back to top KVUE Five Who Care Program Clay Browne, a tutor for the SHELTRS Project at the Austin Children's Shelter, has been selected as one of the runners-up for the Five Who Care Community Service Awards. The Five Who Care program is sponsored by the KVUE television station (Austin Channel 24). Clay and the other runners-up, along with the winners, will be honored during the awards ceremony on Tuesday, April 11, at One World Theatre on Bee Caves Road. The event will be taped and will be shown on KVUE 24 on Thursday, April 20, from 7 p.m.-8 p.m. The winners and runners-up were chosen in mid-February. Judges evaluated each of the nominees on the following traits:
Clay works as an editor for Ralph McElroy Translation
Co., is an avid science fiction reader and an aspiring
writer. He serves as a computer tutor at the shelter from 4
p.m. to 7 p.m. four days a week. His responsibilities as a
computer tutor run the gamut from showing 2- and 3-
year-olds the very basics of point and click to helping high
school kids find and download resources from the web for
school. Clay says, "I enjoy my activities as a computer
tutor more than I can possibly describe, even if my
multi-tasking abilities are often sorely tested." |
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