(PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 4, 2011)—Students in Dr. Ashley Podhrasky’s CT100-120 Microcomputer course got a lesson in community service while they learned to build computers from scratch. As part of the Computers for Humanity Project in Goodwin College’s Computing and Security Technology program, students built two custom personal computers and donated them to People’s Emergency Center of Philadelphia.
Podhrasky developed the project, secured funding, and integrated it into the CT100 curriculum.
Located in the Mantua neighborhood, which borders Drexel’s main campus, the People’s Emergency Center aims to provide “comprehensive support services to homeless women and their children, revitalize our West Philadelphia neighborhood, and advocate for social justice.”
The donation echoes Drexel University’s commitment to Mantua and Powelton Village, the neighborhoods surrounding the West Philadelphia campus.
Ron Edwards, digital inclusion manager at People’s Emergency Center, received the computers on Oct. 22. He plans to use them in a new computer lab at the center.
The Computers for Humanity Project began last fall, when students in Podhrasky’s course built and donated two computers to one of the Philadelphia Youth Network’s E3 (Education, Employment, and Empowerment) centers.