Reaching Out to Students and Families in West Oakland
The Center for Urban Family Life (CUFL) is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit corporation sponsored by the First Unitarian Church of Oakland. CUFL is the corporate entity under which two of our Justice programs function. These programs are the McClymonds Merit Awards Scholarship Program and the GotCOM computer online mentoring program. Both programs are intended to add skills and opportunities for students in West Oakland.
McClymonds Merit Awards
The McClymonds Merit Awards Scholarship Program provides 2-year college scholarships for about 25 graduating seniors each year. The students are selected by a Board comprised of a representative of our church community, McClymonds faculty, and community representatives. The awards are funded by an anonymous donation of $75,000 per year. The awards have been given for the past 5 years, during which time the graduation rate at McClymonds has improved substantially.
GotCOM
GotCom is a group of dedicated volunteers working to improve computer literacy in West Oakland, currently partnering with the Oakland Technology Exchange (OTX-West)to provide computer and internet training to students and their families. After completing training, families receive free recycled computers and free internet service accounts. GotCOM would love to have more volunteers to work with the youth and their families. If you are interested, please email Aaron Schottenfeld at aschottenfeld@yahoo.com or call him at 510-703-4478.
GotCOM has been running for a number of years. It started providing computer training to students at Lowell Middle School, and then provided free computers to these students through OTX-West. With additional training, the students are provided with 6 months of internet service. GotCOM provides the computers and the internet service. This program has been funded by several different grants. After serving students at the KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) school for the last two years, GotCOM has recently moved to the Kizmet Academy middle school, part of the McClymonds complex. GotCOM is also serving students at BEST (Business Entrepreneurial School of Technology) high school in the complex.
CUFL -- and these programs -- are run by volunteers from First Unitarian Church of Oakland. We need additional involvement at several levels, including new board members.
Please contact Jeff Asher at jasher@ix.netcom.com for information about CUFL; Diane Olson at dianeolson@earthlink.net for information about the McClymonds Merit Awards Program; and Tom Bretthauer at tjbrett@pacbell.net or aschottenfeld@yahoo.com for information about GotCOM.