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Head Start Bulletin

February 2000 Issue No. 66

Neighborhood Networks Work!
In an age where more than half of all new jobs require some technology skills, low-income neighborhoods are mobilizing to make sure residents get the skills they need to earn a living. Neighborhood Networks in communities across the country are increasing resident self-sufficiency, expanding job opportunities, and creating life-long learning communities.

What Is a Neighborhood Network?
Neighborhood Networks, an initiative of the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), brings together a variety of public and private organizations and community residents to create computerized learning centers tailored to meet the needs of community residents. A Neighborhood Network Center (NNC) can provide:

  • Computer literacy and job training skills
  • Access to job data banks
  • A variety of early childhood programs
  • Adult education opportunities
  • Personal, motivational, and job-training software
  • A means for developing micro-enterprises, such as data entry
  • Connections to people and resources in the community
HUD has launched 490 NNCs over the past four years, and some 760 more are planned. The program has been so successful that the U. S. Department of Education hopes to create 600 similar centers in the next few years.

How Can I Get a Neighborhood Network Started in My Community? Neighborhood Networks outlines a five-step process for establishing an NNC:
  • Form an NNC Steering Committee including residents and selected members of the broader community, and decide upon a governance structure.
  • Identify the needs, goals, and interests of neighborhood residents, take an inventory of community institutions that could be NNC partners, and build partnerships.
  • Design programs to match the needs, goals, and interests of neighborhood residents and the resources available from existing community institutions.
  • Develop a business plan that maps out the NNC's operational and financial assumptions, so that interested parties and contributors can "buy into" the effort.
Neighborhood Networks is not a grant program, so local support is vital. To ensure the success of an NNC, local businesses, government, educational institutions, private foundations, and other community organizations need to donate computers and software and provide capital funding. While the HUD-sponsored program is aimed specifically at HUD-assisted or HUD-insured housing, a multitude of resources, "how to" guides, newsletters, and information are available on the Neighborhood Networks Web site, http://www.hud.gov/nnw/nnwindex.html. These resources are useful to anyone thinking about developing a similar kind of community learning initiative.

For additional information, or to find a Neighborhood Network Center near you, call the Neighborhood Networks Information Center at 1-888-312-2743.

Contents - Bulletin No. 66 On to Distance Learning and the Early Head Start Community
View other Head Start Bulletins

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