Last week, Cook County Higher Education (CCHE) partnered with PCs for People to distribute 40 laptop computers to the residents of Cook County. PCs for People is an organization headquartered in St. Paul that refurbishes computer hardware to sell to people that meet certain income guidelines. PCs for People also partners with non-profits to allow them to buy computers at a discounted rate. Cook County Higher Education originally asked for 10 laptop computers for students needing technology to complete their schoolwork on-line. After advertising the availability of these discounted laptops on the CCHE Facebook site, CCHE quickly realized that the demand was far greater than the original ten requested. PCs for People was able to increase the request to 40 laptops.
The price to CCHE for the refurbished laptops was $150 each, and CCHE was able to pass that low price directly to Cook County residents with no restrictions on who could purchase the devices. In addition, the Cook County Higher Education Board of Directors contributed over $2,000 in scholarships for those individuals that needed them – up to $100 per computer. CCHE also set up payment plans for people that needed to spread out their payments.
Cook County Higher Education, a non-profit located in Grand Marais, was formed 24 years ago with the mission to “Provide Education Where You Live” to Cook County residents. CCHE provides FREE support to students interested in or currently enrolled in long distance education. Local workshops, certifications and college courses are also offered at the Cook County Higher Education campus. With on-site colleges moving their instruction on-line, CCHE recognized that students would need both technical help and increased support for on-line learning. Karen Blackburn, Executive Director of Cook County Higher Education noted that “We understood that high school and college students would need to get technology in their hands, but we originally underestimated the number of other residents in need.”
Blackburn went on the explain, “A wide range of residents took advantage of the program. We had school aged children, unemployed adults looking to file for unemployment, older people without means to communicate, small business owners, and college students needing to move their studies on-line.” Blackburn distributed the computers at the CCHE campus. Every one of the 40 recipients had a story to tell. “It was fun to meet people and hear their stories.” Blackburn said, “Every single person was overjoyed to be getting such a good deal.”
Boreal Community Media also partnered with CCHE to provide free technical support to those users needing help setting up their devices for communicating with friends, family and work. Boreal Community Media recently offered free technical help to the community at large with help setting up FaceTime, Google Hangout, Skype, Zoom, and Facebook Messenger. They are providing this service by phone appointment only, no face-to-face appointments at this time.
CCHE is working hard to procure more computers. PCs for People has been overwhelmed with demand, but is working hard to get more computers into the hands of Cook County residents. If you are interested in getting on a waiting list, please visit Cook County Higher Education’s website myCCHE.org, visit the COVID-19 page and complete an application.
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