Higher Ed helping the community through PCs for People

One thing that has become commonplace--perhaps even crucial--during the COVID-19 pandemic is online communication. Every day citizens are using computers to work from home. Students are doing their studies online. And computers have become a way to connect with friends and family while maintaining social distance. 
 

But not everyone can afford a brand new device and that is where a Cook County Higher Education program "PCs for People" comes in. 
 

Through PCs for People, Cook County Higher Ed has distributed 179 laptop computers to community members at a great discounted price. Higher Ed's Executive Director Karen Blackburn told WTIP that the program has gotten computers to students and teachers for distance learning programs, to business owners needing some additional technology, and to community members who need a computer to connect to friends and family during this time of isolation. 
 

Blackburn also told WTIP that the program was originally funded by personal donations from  Cook County Higher Education board members and continues to be sustained by community contributions. 
 

WTIP's Rhonda Silence learns more about this very successful Higher Ed offering in this interview.