West Cook YMCA Computer Learning Center Now Online
Charter One Bank grant helps launch new facilityOAK PARK, Ill. (May 10, 2006) - A new computer learning center is offering the low-down on high-tech to senior citizens and single-room occupancy (SRO) residents at the West Cook YMCA in Oak Park. The center’s grand opening is set for 11 a.m. Thursday, May 11, following its development and initial use made possible by a $25,000 grant from the Charter One Foundation.
The state-of-the-art Charter One/YMCA Community Learning Center has eight computer terminals. It is designed to serve senior citizens and SRO residents with free, basic computer education courses that include six hours of skills-building in Microsoft Word and on the Internet.
The center offers “open hours,” with an instructor available to answer questions, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, according to Scott Gaalaas, president and CEO of the West Cook YMCA. And while the learning center is primarily intended for senior citizens and SRO residents, the Y is beginning to open course enrollment to the community at large when seats are available, Gaalaas said.
“Charter One Bank and the West Cook YMCA share a common goal: helping the community prosper and connect,” said Paul Greig, president and CEO of Charter One Bank, Illinois. “Computers and technology have an awesome power to bring people closer together. With the new community learning center, Charter One and the West Cook YMCA are working to offer everyone, from young children to seniors, the tools, skills and access they need to take advantage of that power.”
For one Y member, 80-year-old George Soil of Oak Park, classes at the learning center may be the push he needs to document his lengthy career as a sheriff, Chicago policeman and city security guard. “Some of my friends are proud of me. They think I ought to record my life. Using the computer would make it so much easier to write, edit and move paragraphs around,” he said.
At the time Soil retired in 1998, computers were just becoming common at his workplace. While he learned enough to get by at the time, the Y’s classes are helping it all make sense, he explained. “By going into a structured situation, I’ve been able to fill in the gaps of what I didn’t know. I’ve learned a lot of little things that I’d always wondered about. It’s like having a private tutor, because the classes are so small and the instructor can really make the subject come alive for the people who are interested,” Soil said.
Another Y member, 61-year-old George Toliver of Chicago, also found learning center courses could advance his computer education. Retired from a career with various positions at Motorola, Toliver skipped the basic level course but for a nominal fee enrolled in a class on Microsoft Word, one of the seven- or 10-week curricula offered by the Y for instruction in Microsoft Office programs such as Excel and PowerPoint.
Even Toliver’s wife benefits from his classes, Toliver says, because he’s now able to help her with her own reports and other documents required by her courses at a city college. “It is so simple to use shortcuts, cut-and-paste and other features of the computer program but would take so much time to learn on my own – without a class. I just never did it,” Toliver said.
Eventually, the Y plans to provide time for Internet access to a wide variety of publics, from senior citizens looking to master computer basics to students who need to type homework assignments or do research after school. The Charter One/YMCA community learning center will also be available in the evenings and on weekends to SRO residents who need to build computer skills in preparation for job interviews.
“Since the center opened it’s been used consistently,” Gaalaas said. “Thanks to the generous support of Charter One Foundation, we’re helping people achieve independence. We want to continue providing our members with as much assistance as possible, including cutting-edge opportunities. As members learn new skills, we want to offer then the opportunity to build and expand those skills.”
For more information about the new computer learning center and programs, please call (708) 383-5200 or visit www.opymca.org.
About West Cook YMCA
The West Cook YMCA in Oak Park serves more than 12,000 people a year and provides health and fitness programs for all ages, children to seniors. The YMCA continues to enhance the quality of life in the communities with mission-based programs that meet the needs of today’s youth, families, adults and seniors. The Y encourages, teaches and demonstrates the YMCA character values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility in all programs.
About Charter One Bank, N.A.
Charter One Bank, N.A., is a $41 billion bank operating in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. It has 480 branches and more than 800 ATMs. It has 128 branches and 389 ATMs in Illinois. Charter One is a subsidiary of Citizens Financial Group, Inc., a $155 billion commercial bank holding company headquartered in Providence, R.I. Citizens has more than 1,600 branches, approximately 3,700 ATMs and more than 26,000 employees in a 13-state retail branch network and has non-branch retail and commercial offices in about 40 states. Citizens is the eighth-largest commercial banking company in the United States ranked by deposits as of September 30, 2005. Citizens is owned by RBS (The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc).
About Charter One Foundation
Charter One Foundation is a charitable contributions vehicle of Charter One Bank. The foundation’s support is focused on housing, community development and basic human needs.
About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is a $155 billion commercial bank holding company. It is headquartered in Providence, R.I., and has more than 1,600 branches, approximately 3,100 ATMs and more than 27,000 employees. It operates its 13-state branch network in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and has non-branch offices in more than 30 states. Citizens is the eighth-largest commercial banking company in the United States ranked by deposits. Citizens is owned by RBS (The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc).
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