Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church
Location: 1725 West 11th Street, Austin, 78703
Phone: (512) 472-3621
Contact: Reverend Horace Carrington, Jr.
Website: www.afn-neighbor.net/sweethome
Description
Free, open computer lab in the basement of Sweet Home Missionary Baptist
Church, located in the historic African-American community of Clarksville.
While no formal courses are offered, the lab does serve as an after school
destination for students from ages 9 to 17. Participants are active members
of the Church and most do not have computers in their homes. The director
rebuilds computers and donates them to families who belong to the church
and to local community centers who need computers.
What makes this program distinctive in the group?
The lab is located in a very different geographic area from other Austin
CTCs. It is located in a gentrified neighborhood in West Austin and is
operated by one person, Reverend Horace Carrington. It offers no formal
instruction in computer use, although Reverend Carrington offers instruction
to adults and children who request it on a case-by-case basis. Children
who visit the lab are required to complete their homework, regardless
of whether a computer is necessary to complete their assignments. They
are allowed to use the computer for games, e-mail, and surfing under the
supervision of Reverend Carrington.
Vision and Community Ownership
Reverend Carrington’s vision for the lab was essentially to meet
the need of providing access to technology where it did not exist before.
The lab serves a pre-existing church community, and students of all ages
know one another and the Reverend quite well. There is a sense of trust
among the participants that manifests itself outside the context of technology.
This permits a level of comfort that, in its absence, may have precluded
some of these students from familiarizing themselves with computers and
the Internet. Many students attempt online searches and activities in
this setting that they would not try on computers at school.
Comprehensive Programming
The lab serves as an office for the Reverend during the weekday mornings,
with adult and child traffic from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Church activities,
computer building, after school snack times, and an open lab is available,
but no structured computer classes have ever been offered. The technology
lab operates, however, within the context of a larger community where
participants' social and spiritual needs are being served.
Learning Opportunities
Learning opportunities occur in a haphazard manner. The Reverend reports
that some individuals have volunteered time to teach students to use different
applications and programs. Most recently, a volunteer from Austin Free-Net
showed students how to build their own websites from a user-friendly application
at www.blackplanet.com. While
students have expressed a desire to learn more, not many appear eager
to have formal classes.
Self-Reliance
Reverend Carrington has taken advantage of his networks in the church,
in Austin’s African-American community, and in grassroots organizations
like Austin Free Net. However, without Reverend Carrington it is doubtful
that the computer lab could continue to exist in its current capacity.
He recently recruited a volunteer to assist him, and she is spending two
days per week at the lab under his tutelage. Reverend Carrington's knowledge
of computers is primarily self-taught - he is a tinkerer at heart. However,
the challenge for him and the church members is to spread the responsibility
of the lab so that his absence would not jeopardize its existence.
Social Capital
The social network among participants, volunteers and the Reverend is
dense, but partnerships and reciprocal relationships between the Sweet
Home computer lab and other similar organizations are not built into the
daily operations at Sweet Home. When the Reverend is in need of information,
equipment, assistance, etc., he will pick up the phone and call someone
who will likely be able to provide him what he needs. But again, his absence
is likened to the absence of a nerve center, from which all actions must
come.
Story
One young boy who attends the lab after school everyday had fallen ill.
Although he did not attend school for three days, he still went with his
siblings to the lab during after school hours. Reverend Carrington was
aware that the boy had missed school, so the Reverend went to the school’s
website, found the teacher’s site, and downloaded the boy’s
homework at the lab. The young boy completed his homework and did not
fall behind in class. When the boy returned to school, the teacher asked
how he was able to get his work, and the boy suggested she contact Reverend
Carrington. The Reverend explained that he was not sure what he would
find, but he searched for the homework and found it. The teacher was equally
pleased and surprised since no parents or guardians had ever attempted
to retrieve their child’s homework in this way.
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