The Smarmy Carny

One Economy Corporation's Digital Access Fund program began work in Baltimore in 2005, and it is now active in communities around the country. The Digital Access Fund provids low-interest loans to bring computers into the homes of low-income families. One Economy teams up with banks to obtain these low-interest loans.

One family was able to purchase a computer and repay the loan in small, manageable installments over 18 months. When this is the only option, it helps school age children can get their assignments done on time without having to leave the house to use a computer.

As I've mentioned, One Economy doesn't stop at helping low-income people to get the computer. Once they have the computer, Digital Connectors also help the families get their computers installed and set up for use.

A few bloggers out there are doing trivia with movie quotes.

• hello! yoshi has audio movie quotes trivia
• The Incogblogo has audio trivia with a mix of music and movies!
• Smattering.org has a written movie quotes trivia
• Technicolor Blogathon is running music trivia

Will you survive the Blogathon?

For those other Blogathonners out there, did you take the quiz? I know, I know, it's a bit late to be asking that!

Sponsorship update: 6 pledges for $95.00

One Economy's 24/7Townhall is the first social website focused on helping technologically-isolated Internet users increase their awareness of and engagement in important social, political, and economic issues. One Economy believes that technology can be the means for a new brand of civic engagement that can transform communities and make agencies accountable by distributing information and allowing people to speak out.

24/7Townhall provides tools and support for people to help shape the way their communities learn, think, and act. 24/7Townhall trains, equips, and guides "citizen journalists" on their path to producing quality, yet raw, content for their communities. This is accomplished by allowing users to participate in various ways:

• Record their thoughts on the site via cutting-edge audio recording tools.
• Rate and discuss all the content on the site.
• Moderate their own discussions and decide for themselves the norms of their online communities.
• Participate in livability assessments.
• Hold social service providers accountable by speaking out and assessing their effectiveness.

Much like The Beehive, you can choose National or local versions of the site. Unfortunately, the only local version on 24/7Townhall is for Portland, OR.

In 2004, One Economy launched the Bring IT Home campaign, which has brought broadband Internet access into the homes of 200,000 low-income individuals.

One Economy accomplished this task by pushing to change affordable housing policies so that residents there could have low-cost or no-cost broadband in their home. This campaign resulted in 42 states and the District of Columbia changing their housing policies.

As I mentioned previously, many charities simply give cheap computers to low-income families and let them fend for themselves. If a family cannot afford a $300 computer, what's the chance they will be able to pay the monthly cost of broadband internet? This is why One Economy impresses me — they don't look at the obvious solutions, but instead they attack the real problems to create effective solutions.

Another program that One Economy Corporation uses to reach low-income communities is Digital Connectors.

Digital Connectors are young people, ages 14 to 21, who accelerate the use of technology in a region by providing training and support to members of their communities. Usually the program runs for up to eight weeks during summer vacation, though some programs vary from this schedule.

Since younger people have grown up around much more technology than the older generations, these young people are an obvious method for pushing technology awareness and education out. 150 Digital Connectors in 10 cities provided technology training and support to more than 3,000 families with an emphasis on basic computer and Internet use and guided instruction on the Beehive.

Digital Connectors are rewarded with stipends or personal computers in exchange for their services to their community.

The Beehive is the flagship program of One Economy Corporation.

The Beehive offers information on various topics including Money, Health & Fitness, School, Jobs & Careers, Starting & Owning a Business, Family, Emergencies, and Insurance. While these might seem like "obvious" pieces of information, an isolated, low-income person may not know how to go about obtaining a credit report, picking out affordable insurance, performing an online job search, or saving for retirement. The site is not only multi-lingual, it's written in language that low-literacy individuals should be able to more easily understand. I plan on writing more about each of these sections of the website throughout the later hours of Blogathon.

Since its launch six years ago in 2001, the Beehive has been visited over 10.7 million times. What are people getting help with when they visit The Beehive? By the end of 2006:

• 400,000 got help finding and evaluating child care
• 315,000 high-school students found homework help
• 325,000 people learned how to plan a family budget
• 650,000 people learned how to file for unemployment benefits
• Income tax filers got $1.8 million in refunds on their 2006 income tax returns

Please note: When you first visit The Beehive, it will ask you to select a region. If you don't see your municipality (mostly only major cities are listed), just click National Beehive and begin enjoying the site. If you do see your local community listed, you're in great luck, because you'll find even more information tailored just for you!

This year, I am participating in Blogathon to support One Economy Corporation.

One Economy is a 501(c)(3) charity that attempts to maximize the potential of technology to help low-income people improve their lives and enter the economic mainstream. What does that mean? Basically, One Economy tries to bring technology to low-income families who cannot afford technology in the Internet Age. Whereas many charities will give away computers to low-income families, One Economy goes further than that. Instead of simply supplying hardware, One Economy has programs that help low-income people use that technology.

One Economy has several programs that help bridge the technology gap. I will be discussing these programs in detail throughout the Blogathon, but here's a brief summary of some of the larger programs:

• One Economy's flagship program is The Beehive, a multilingual web portal that provides web-based tools and information about financial services, education, jobs, health care, and family.
• The Bring IT Home campaign has brought broadband Internet access into the homes of 200,000 low-income individuals.
• Their Digital Connectors program develops technology skills in people ages 14 – 21 to turn them into "technology ambassadors" who motivate others to connect to the internet.
• The 24/7Townhall is a social media website focused on helping technologically-isolated internet users increase their awareness of and engagement in important social, political, and economic issues.
• ZipRoad, opening in August 2007 (so bookmark it!), is an education-related website that is designed to enable parents and
  caregivers to make informed decisions about their children's education and learning. It is aimed at low-income, low-literacy parents but should be useful to everyone!

One Economy is really quite a unique charity, and that's why I chose it. Please consider sponsoring me for the Blogathon. For more information on how to do that, check out my Blogathon page.