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Heath Meriwether: Sports, PCs, community
September 24, 2000
Think Detroit uses sports and computers to teach children to succeed
But the big breakthrough came just 10 days ago when e-GM, the Internet arm of General Motors, gave Think Detroit $3 million for the next three years to accelerate the program so it can serve not 200 youngsters a year but 200 a month. The resources will expand their program throughout Detroit's empowerment zone.
Much has been written about the so-called digital divide, how people in impoverished neighborhoods, without access to computers and the Internet, are being left behind in the new economy.
Tenbusch and Varner didn't just wring their hands. They did something. Over lunch four years ago, the budding lawyers with successful clerkships behind them told each other they wanted to make a difference. Varner saw it in the uniting experience of sports, Tenbusch in the opportunity of computers and the Internet.
More important, they knew they wanted to strengthen the relationships that make for a strong foundation in a child's life: the relationships between parents and children; between parents and schools; and between youngsters, their families and their community.
They saw a chance not only for parents to get to know their neighbors through their children's sports activities, but to learn about the opportunities and resources available in their community through the Internet.
That's precisely what a recent $200,000 Kellogg Foundation grant is aimed at helping Think Detroit do: build a community portal site on the Internet that would allow families to get connected to what's available at their churches, schools, local political offices and community organizations.
"We want to build up the content of the site so teachers and parents can talk about the child's progress through e-mail and get people in the community here connected to things that benefit them," Tenbusch said.
That's all part of building a community and making sure its youngsters don't get left behind. To Tenbusch and Varner, that makes them feel richer than any Internet entrepreneurs.
Heath Meriwether is publisher of the Free Press. You can reach him by phone at 313-222-5974, by mail at the Detroit Free Press, 600 W. Fort St., Detroit, MI 48226 or via e-mail at meriwe@freepress.com.
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