Molly LaFreniere is one of the college students at Cook County Higher Education who received a computer through the “PCs for People” program. LaFreniere is taking health care classes.
Cook County Higher Education (CCHE) was honored to receive $2,555 funding assistance from the North Shore Health Care Foundation to upgrade laptop computers and the computer lab, which predominantly serve health care students. CCHE is using this grant opportunity as an outreach service, donating at least seven of CCHE’s current PC systems to distance learning students, replacing those units with seven upgraded PCs for People computers, and creating a comfortable learning space for students.
To date, six units have been distributed. The computers were distributed to health care students Shemika Grimsley, Teresa Lindskog, Molly LaFreniere, Amanda Van Hornweder, Elizabeth Walton, and Daniel Ehman.
CCHE’s current desktop computer lab had become outdated and an upgrade was critical to the needs of our health care students. Online lab programs, video content, and research tools are required components of health care programs, so it is vital that students have equipment that access these programs with ease.
One student said, “Not every person returning to college has the means to complete some assignments with the new technology available and required to accomplish required tasks. In the future, it would be great to have the [North Shore] campus obtain and maintain this type of equipment for their students.”
Thanks to the generosity of PCs for People, local laptop donations, and organizations such as the North Shore Health Care Foundation, the North Shore Campus is able to provide the technology and resources necessary for critical health care training and education.
With the advent of broadband in the community, it is more important than ever that our community (and especially CCHE) use technology more effectively to communicate who and what we are. For CCHE, that means being able to share successes that have translated into economic benefits for the whole region. Our hope is that people will be inspired to follow the lead and enroll in degree programs that lead to living wage employment.
Cook County Higher Education could not have done this project without the North Shore Health Care Foundation’s support.
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