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 America's Seniors

IBM, AT&T employees help seniors
use the Internet at 135 libraries and centers 
in more than 30 states

PHILADELPHIA, April 10 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T and IBM have tapped their employees to help bring access to the Internet -- and knowledge of how to use it -- to senior citizens around the country.

 Last year, the two companies collaborated to sponsor a $660,000 grant to Generations on Line and SeniorNet, Inc. Since then, more than 130 AT&T and IBM employees have suggested libraries, senior centers and nursing homes in communities in 30 states where their parents or grandparents live to receive Generations on Line, a free simplified Internet program created exclusively for seniors.

 

Funding for this unique initiative is provided by the IBM Global Work/Life Fund and the AT&T Family Care Development Fund. The AT&T Family Care Development Fund is a joint project of AT&T, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), and the Communications Workers of America (CWA).

As a result of employee involvement, 135 new facilities now offer this program free to IBM and AT&T relatives and other seniors. Sixty-five libraries, nursing homes and senior centers have added Generations on Line to their facilities. "We are a small community that has had a lot of interest in Generations on Line," said Barbara Winter at the Pipestone Senior Center in Minnesota. "We've had a lot of positive feedback about Generations on Line and have a couple of people who come in everyday to use it and they love it. I think it's great because it is so simple for the seniors to use."
 

Carol Fjellanger is the IBMer who nominated the Senior Center in Pipestone, MN, her mother's community, to receive the Generations on Line software. Pipestone is about 180 miles from where Fjellanger lives in Rochester, MN. The Generations on Line program makes it possible for elders, such as Fjellanger's mother, to stay in touch with family members who do not live nearby -- in this case, two children, five grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. "Now she wants her own computer so she doesn't have to go to the Senior Center to send her e-mails!" says Fjellanger proudly.
 

In addition, 70 SeniorNet sites have added Generations on Line to their computer learning centers. Ann Wrixon, President and CEO of SeniorNet said, "When I walked into the SeniorNet Learning Center in Jaspar, Arkansas, which is in the middle of the Ozarks -- an extremely rural community -- there was the Generations on Line computer right in the middle of the lobby with 3 seniors crowded around it."
 

Dr. Joseph Romano, AT&T Human Resources Vice President -- Health Affairs said, "We're pleased to be associated with such a worthwhile program, and we're happy that, in many communities throughout the U.S., our employees and their families are benefiting from it."
 

Tobey Dichter, founder and CEO of Generations on Line, estimates that more than 8,000 seniors have overcome their fear of computers through this simplified program. "This grant is an example of corporate leadership recognizing the needs of employees with older family members as well as the importance to those employees of staying connected with their elder relatives."
 

Generations on Line (www.generationsonline.org) is a nonprofit program launched in September 2000 and is now in more than 670 senior centers, nursing homes, retirement communities, subsidized housing units and public libraries in 46 states and Canada. Through clear, step-by-step, on-screen directions in large type, the ad-free program guides elderly computer novices through the basics. Generations on Line provides free, simplified email service and, through a partnership with AltaVista.com, enables a user to "surf the Net" in 25 languages. The program, available only to institutions, also includes the opportunity for seniors to respond to children's questions about the past, and links to other sites. Generations on Line is intended to break down the barriers of access, skill and intimidation for 21 million people over 65 who otherwise might not use the Internet.
 

SeniorNet (www.seniornet.org) is the world's premier technology trainer and online community for adults over 50. Based in San Francisco and founded in 1986, SeniorNet is a major international organization that has taught hundreds of thousands of older adults to use computers and the Internet and has enriched the lives of millions through its website. With a thriving online community and a network of more than 240 locally run Learning Centers in the U.S. staffed by more than 6,000 volunteers, SeniorNet offers both offline and online destinations to a population that was originally neglected in the information revolution. Many of SeniorNet's partners and sponsors, which include major corporations and foundations, underwrite and co-brand areas of the SeniorNet website as a way to market their products and services to the coveted 50+ segment.
 

More information can be found at www.seniornet.org and www.generationsonline.org .