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BWH’s ongoing collaboration with the community took a historic step forward in September 2001 when six houses were moved along Francis Street to accommodate a new clinical building. It doesn’t take a house move, however, to show BWH’s strong support and commitment to being a good neighbor.
This winter, BWH, Partners and the Roxbury Tenants of Harvard (RTH) coordinated another move in an effort to strengthen the partnership between the hospital and community. Ten computers and three laser printers were donated to RTH for use in its local library and after-school program. And, while this move didn’t require precise orchestration between several flat bed trucks, tools and construction workers, the vision remained the same – to improve the quality of life for BWH’s neighbors.
With the help of BWH and Partner’s donation, which included computer equipment complete with internet access capabilities, the RTH will have the opportunity to enhance both its educational programs at the Betty Powers Library and after-school activities for children.
According to Anne Vinick, director of Program Development for RTH, the six additional computers in the Library offer a great benefit to residents. Before the donated computers were installed in the Library, there were no terminals outside the specially designated computer classroom, an area that is restricted to formal instruction. Now, for the first time, there will be unlimited access to several computers for all visitors to the Library.
“With the additional six terminals in the Library, a greater number of our residents are able to use the computers and internet more often,” Vinick said. “Since they have arrived at the Library, the computers are in constant use and have become a magnet for drawing different generations together,” she added. “Now it is not unusual to see a teenager working along-side one of our senior residents.”
Four new terminals and three laser printers have also been donated to RTH’s after-school program, which reaches neighborhood children between the ages of six and 13. The equipment provides additional resources and tools for students who need assistance with their homework and researching and writing projects.
The computer donation is another step in an ongoing partnership between BWH and RTH to enhance both the quality of life in the neighborhood and the quality of patient care at the hospital.