{"id":46668,"date":"2025-07-30T04:18:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T04:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/46668\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T04:18:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T04:18:10","slug":"county-has-fewer-digital-navigators-due-to-funding-trump-canceled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/46668\/","title":{"rendered":"County has fewer ‘digital navigators’ due to funding Trump canceled"},"content":{"rendered":"

Robert C. Bradford rushes into the Ashbury Senior Community Computing Center<\/a> in Glenville, laptop in hand. He\u2019s looking a little worried and needs help.<\/p>\n

The Glenville resident was attempting to fill out an online application for auto repair financing, when \u2014 poof! \u2014 it disappeared. A few minutes later, Bradford was meeting with Caleb Boyd, a digital navigator who helps people who are having difficulty completing online tasks. He patiently guided Bradford through completing his application. The tension in Bradford\u2019s face had vanished.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what I would have done without his help,\u201d said Bradford, adding that online was the only way to submit the application. \u201cI really need this financing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Northeast Ohio Regional Digital Opportunity Alliance, which includes the Cuyahoga County Public Library<\/a>, was planning to increase the number of digital navigators this year. It was part of a larger plan to expand efforts to close the digital equity gap. In many Greater Cleveland communities, many residents don\u2019t have the computer skills needed to do such things as apply for a job, use MyChart or handle other matters that increasingly can only be performed online.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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In May, the Trump administration canceled millions in federal digital equity funding, funds the president said were illegal, unconstitutional and \u201cwoke handouts based on race.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 Federally funded programs such as the Ohio Digital Inclusion Grant Program aim to help<\/a> several populations, including rural residents, veterans and racial and ethnic minorities. Now, the local alliance\u2019s plan to expand has been placed on hold. Instead of about 10 digital navigators throughout Cuyahoga County, there are about half that number. CCPL avoided laying off digital navigators after three found jobs within the library system.<\/p>\n

The alliance, which also includes partners in Lorain County, is not deterred by the federal funding being canceled and will look for other options, said Rebecca Ranallo, CCPL\u2019s literacy and learning director. These include non-government grants and other funding. The alliance\u2019s partners in Cuyahoga County had previously received both federal and local foundation grants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is work that we will find a way to keep going because it is important to our ability to build a Northeast Ohio where residents can thrive,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"WandaWanda Davis, founder and executive director of Ashbury Senior Community Computing Center (ASC3) in Glenville (in blue) helps client Cynthia Felder of Glenville. Phyllis McLaughlin of Cleveland Heights (wearing glasses) and Priscilla Moore of Lee-Harvard observe. Credit: Olivera Perkins<\/p>\n

The Ashbury digital literacy training center, also called ASC3,\u00a0is one of the community-based groups with which CCPL partners. ASC3 runs several satellite locations and also has a center on Lorain Avenue. which opened about two years ago. Wanda Davis, ASC3\u2019s founder and executive director, was counting on the federal digital equity funding to pay for three additional digital navigators. Her program currently has five digital navigators. \u00a0After the federal funding was canceled, ASC3 stepped up fundraising. If the program can\u2019t make up for the lost federal dollars, Davis said, layoffs could occur and the Lorain Avenue center could close.<\/p>\n

ASC3 has two centers in Cleveland
11011 Ashbury Avenue
9926 Lorain Avenue<\/p>\n

Classes are also held at other locations
Find class locations using this map<\/a><\/p>\n

Young people can benefit from digital navigators, too<\/p>\n

ASC3 programs serve not only seniors but people of all ages, including teens. Filling slots in its digital literary and other programs has never been a problem, Davis said. She said demand is probably higher now than it has been at any time since the Ashbury Avenue location opened in 2002.<\/p>\n

During the pandemic many tasks that had been done with an in-person option, from submitting loan applications to even medical visits, moved online. As the capacity to do even more things online increases, government offices and businesses continue to limit or abandon in-person, phone and mail options. This is leaving many without computers, internet access, and most important, online skills woefully behind, she said.<\/p>\n

Bradford used to avoid online options for conducting personal business. Back then, he didn\u2019t have a computer or internet service. As more things became online only, he decided to take his first digital literacy course this year at ASC3. Bradford said the one-on-one help he has received from digital navigators has been key to his learning how to do such things as internet searches and applying for programs online.\u00a0 ASC3 helps clients get free or low-cost computers and assists them in signing up for high-quality, low-cost internet service.<\/p>\n

One of the grants the alliance applied for was the\u00a0$9 million Digital Equity Competitive Grant through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The application had made it to the last round of the selection process and things were looking promising, Ranallo said. Then, the funding was canceled. The grant would have been used to expand outreach efforts, hire more digital navigators and purchase laptops.<\/p>\n

Boyd, one of the digital navigators, leads a program for young people at ASC3.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cA lot of younger people will understand how to use technology in so far as it relates to entertainment-based things,\u201d Boyd said. \u201cWhen it comes to things that are very important \u2026 things that you need to know to be able to do good research. Things that you need to know to be able to develop good critical thinking skills. Things that will help you once you become an adult \u2026 those skills are just not there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PriscillaPriscilla Moore of Lee-Harvard is a client at the Ashbury Senior Community Computing Center (ASC3) on Ashbury Avenue in Glenville. Credit: Olivera Perkins<\/p>\n

ASC3\u2019s clients love learning even when class isn\u2019t in session<\/p>\n

ASC3 doesn\u2019t usually hold digital literacy courses during the summer, but that doesn\u2019t stop clients from showing up to get help during open lab or from a digital navigator.<\/p>\n

On a recent weekday afternoon, Davis was in one of the computer labs with three women who have been coming to the program for years. They included Cynthia Felder of Glenville, Phyllis McLaughlin of Cleveland Heights and Priscilla Moore of Lee-Harvard.<\/p>\n

McLaughlin said the individualized help is what has kept her coming back. She said she had started at another digital literary program but wasn\u2019t able to master online skills to her satisfaction because there wasn\u2019t much one-on-one help.<\/p>\n

Moore said she is relying on one-on-one help from Davis and a digital navigator to learn how to do household budgeting using an Excel spreadsheet.<\/p>\n

Felder has been coming for 10 years and will continue to come.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t know everything about computers, and technology is forever changing,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to stay up on things.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not surprising that ASC3 gets such positive feedback. Davis shaped her homegrown program, which has taught more than 10,000 people computer skills in more than two decades, with community input. She helped develop the digital navigators program based on interactions with clients.<\/p>\n

Davis got the idea for the center after her mother was required to use a computer during a medical appointment at a local hospital. Her mother had difficulty using the computer, and the hospital hadn\u2019t assigned staff to help people who were having difficulty. (Davis intervened after she found out what was happening and urged the hospital to assign staff to help clients.)<\/p>\n

Before starting ASC3, Davis, a former community organizer, surveyed residents to see if they would be interested in a digital literacy center in the neighborhood.\u00a0 When they said yes, she started fundraising for computers, furniture and other equipment. She and her husband, Percel Davis, then went about converting three storefronts, where they had once run a hardware store and also an ice cream shop, into ASC3.<\/p>\n

\u201cEver since, we have had a waiting list,\u201d\u00a0 she said.<\/p>\n

Davis said she won\u2019t allow the canceled federal funding to detract her from her mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re determined to continue digital inclusion activities for everyone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Signal Cleveland<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Robert C. Bradford rushes into the Ashbury Senior Community Computing Center in Glenville, laptop in hand. He\u2019s looking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[191,36674,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-46668","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-computing","8":"tag-computing","9":"tag-glenville","10":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}