Canton, Ohio -- ComputersAgain, formerly
an independent 501(c)3 has been rebooted as a program of Goodwill
Industries of Greater Cleveland and East Central Ohio, Inc.
The organization, which has been
refurbishing and selling affordable computers to help northeast Ohio
families acquire the education and tools needed to gain marketable skills in
computer technology since 2005, recently became a program of Goodwill.
"When we started ComputersAgain, we had
two employees, myself and co-founder Ken Slezak," said Ed Rowlance,
co-founder. "At some point, our careers both landed us back in the
corporate world, but our belief in the mission and vision of our
organization still stood strong."
The co-founders then looked to Goodwill as
an option to keeping alive their vision of making affordable computers
available to non-profits and low-income individuals/families.
"It is a natural fit with our mission of
working to improve the quality of life and employment opportunities for
people," said Ken Weber, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of
Greater Cleveland and East Central Ohio, Inc. "Our goal is to provide
individuals with the tools they need to thrive in society and the workplace,
which is hard to accomplish today without technology."
Goodwill Industries plans to continue
offering most of the same services that ComputersAgain has traditionally
offered, but as part of the "rebooting" process, is exploring new and
exciting ways to reach the community with this program.
"We are working on several partnerships
with local entities that could really get more computers in the hands of
those who need them," said Weber, "but it will take some time to work out
all the details,"
In the meantime, Goodwill Industries will
continue to refurbish and sell computers to individuals/families and
non-profits, offering Information Technology Services and education as well.
Goodwill is still accepting donations for
the program at The Community Campus at Goodwill (408 9th St SW in Canton).
The same criteria that the former ComputersAgain used, is still in place
when making donations to Goodwill's Program:
300 MHz Pentium II or higher with 64MB Ram
(129MB preferred) with at least a 4GB hard drive and with at least an 8x
CD-ROM drive or faster. 17" or larger monitor capable of displaying
16-bit color at 800x600 resolution.
For individuals who are interested in
obtaining a computer, the cost is $75; however, an individual/family must
meet a certain income level to qualify. Additionally, the individual
is required to take a 3 hour training class as part of the process and is
not charged for the computer until after the class.
For more information on receiving or
donating a computer, please visit the Website at
www.computersagain.org or leave
a message at 330-445-1101, and your call will be returned within 24-48
business hours.
Goodwill Industries of Greater Cleveland
and East Central Ohio, Inc. provides programs and services to a 10 county
area. For more than 90 years, Goodwill has been dedicated to
improving the quality of life and employment opportunities for people in the
communities we serve.
