Technology is a necessity, not a nice-to-have
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United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County

Technology is a necessity, not a nice-to-have

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March 24, 2020

People are finding themselves working from home without the right technology. Digital Bridge is providing technology to low-income families and nonprofits.

More and more people are finding themselves needing to work from home in the non-profit sector within the last couple of weeks due to COVID-19, but don’t have the right technology to do so. 

Jeff Hanson, Executive Director at Digital Bridge, knew they could step up and connect nonprofits and low-income families with the technology to work remotely. 

Digital Bridge is a nonprofit organization that connects groups and individuals with digital resources they would otherwise not be able to access on their own. 

Jeff started Digital Bridge as a student organization at MSOE. He saw the need to connect low-income families and nonprofits to computers and continued to grow the organization into an independent nonprofit.

Last week, Digital Bridge received requests from both the YMCA and Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers for computers in order for their staff to work remotely, and they fulfilled their request the same day. 

“We want people to know technology is a necessity, not a luxury, and it’s more apparent now than ever,” Jeff explained.

Digital Bridge is the only organization NAID AAA certified to wipe and reuse drives in Milwaukee. “We take all kinds of technology donations, refurbish most items for reuse,” Jeff stated, “and if we can’t, we recycle them properly with no cost to the donor.” They sell these refurbished laptops and desktops for around $70 - $100 apiece to qualified individuals and nonprofits. 

Jeff joined Technology United last year because he saw the opportunity to work with other professionals across the community towards a shared goal of accessibility to technology. 

Located in Walker’s Point, Digital Bridge is at the heart of Milwaukee and wants to see our community be successful. “With offices shutting down, we are running out of computer donations,” said Jeff. “More and more people are going to be working from home, and we need to get them access to computers so they can be safe at home, today.”

If you or your organization has old computers and equipment, please consider contacting Digital Bridge for pick up: http://www.digitalbridge.ngo/contact 

Feeling inspired? You can help local nonprofits serve the people who need them today by donating to United Way’s COVID-19 Urgent Needs Fund. 

 

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