DETROIT ? Claudia Washington, 61, a feisty grandmother of three and a former private duty nurse who has found a new lease on life through computer learning, is one of two people nationwide to receive the Neighborhood Networks Living the Dream Award in recognition of her work teaching senior citizens to use computers to improve the quality of their lives.
The Living the Dream Award is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); the award was presented Thursday, June 30, at HUD?s Neighborhood Networks 10th Anniversary National Training Conference in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Washington, who is wheelchair-bound, touched her first computer just two years ago when she signed on for a computer learning course at Restoration Towers, a non-profit senior living center, in Detroit. Washington, who lives at Restoration Towers, now runs the 10-computer learning center, teaching others five days a week as a volunteer. She recites computer terms, names of software programs and websites like familiar recipes considers her computer teaching with seniors a special ministry.
?This work is my ministry; it?s not a job,? Washington said. ?Computer knowledge puts the world at the fingertips of seniors. Dealing with computers is like therapy for me and others. I have worked with seniors with arthritis. Everyone works differently. We work with what we have. This (computer center) is my home from the moment I wake up in the morning.?
On an average day seniors, family members and neighborhood residents can be found in the Computer Learning Center reading newspapers on-line, corresponding through e-mail, creating greeting cards, family histories, checking on prescriptions and, taking computer courses taught by Washington.
Jackuline McKinney, a retired Detroit schoolteacher who heads the Computer Learning Center, nominated Washington to receive the Living the Dream Award.
?Claudia joined my basic beginning computer class with absolutely no computer knowledge,? McKinney said. ?Her thirst to master the computer was awesome. She never missed a class and often brought her granddaughters. She studied daily on her own as well as with more advanced students. In just two years Claudia has become a super-advanced teacher. She provides a weekly report of student?s progress and attendance. I am delighted that Claudia?s work is being recognized. Her story is a national model for senior learning and use of technology.?
Neighborhood Networks (NN) has connected residents of HUD assisted and insured properties with opportunities through technology since its formation in 1995 as a division of HUD. Restoration Towers is a 147-unit senior citizen apartment building located on Lahser Road near Six Mile in Detroit that is owned by the Community Outreach Services Corporation, a non-profit church affiliate of the Community of Christ. In 1999, Restoration Towers sought and was awarded funds to develop its Neighborhood Networks Computer Learning Center which is available free of charge to building residents as well as the community at large.
Restoration Towers is managed by Paragon Management, a woman-owned and operated business in Michigan that manages assisted-housing properties financed by HUD.
