The University of Minnesota received about $3 million to address broadband adoption in the Twin Cities through improved computer centers and broadband training and internships. One of their partners is the Hmong American Partnership (HAP). We posted some background info on them last November and mentioned their Open House the following month. Since them I haven’t heard much (although because they are urban, not rural I don’t seek out much info) so I was pleased to see an update in the Twin Cities Daily Planet…
HAP has implemented employment readiness classes where it teaches participants how to interview for jobs, develop skills and habits to become better employees, life skills and financial literacy. They have found that many people don’t have familiarity with computers, so the updated computer center will provide them opportunities to develop additional skills.
HAP’s three centers-two in St Paul and one in Minneapolis-provide programs and services such as economic development and housing, employment services, educational training, youth and family services, and elderly services. The computer center is located at HAP’s main location, 1075 Arcade St., St. Paul. The computer center hours there are Monday, 1-3 p.m.; Wednesday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
The BAP, envisioned as a service to bridge the digital divide for under-resourced sections of the Twin Cities, has created computer centers in four federally-designated poverty zones: north Minneapolis, south Minneapolis, southeast Minneapolis, and St. Paul. The community groups in these areas are typically African American, Latino, Native American, Somali, and Hmong.
The BAP is a $3.6M initiative of the University of Minnesota’s Urban Research and Outreach/Engagement Center (UROC) in partnership with the University of Minnesota’s Office of Business Community and Economic Development, and the community-based Minnesota Multicultural Media Consortium (http://multiculturallife.org/). The initiative established two new computer centers and upgraded nine existing ones