The Huffer Memorial Children's Center recently received a much needed technology upgrade from Ball State University.
The children's center, located at 2000 N. Elgin St., is a member of the Professional Development School program sponsored by the Ball State Teachers College and provides full-time child-development programs for underprivileged children whose parents work or are at school during the day.
Cardinal Health Systems, Comcast, and the United Way Community Tech Link also assisted The Huffer Memorial Children's Center in meeting a new state technology mandate that requires each member of the center's staff to be connected to the Internet before the beginning of next month.
Paula Morris, associate director at the children's center, said she feels the center is behind in technological updates.
"Under this new directive, we had to have two people assigned to the computers (and Internet) full-time by November 1," Morris said.
With the new computer upgrade, Morris said she believes the center will be able to handle the state's most recent technology request.
Fred Nay, Loren Malm and David Powell, representatives from Ball State's computing services, lead the university's efforts in providing more than $5,000 worth of discounts on new computer equipment. The representatives also plan on acting as technical support by providing the center's staff with on-site software configuration.
"We are happy to continue to work on projects like this with Community Tech Link," Nay said. "We receive personal satisfaction in helping others."
Katie Frederick, technology director for the United Way Community Tech Link, said she also was more than willing to help the Huffer Memorial Children's Center.
"Although it seems heartless to receive a state mandate with no assistance, it was a fact and one that we had to help Huffer solve," Frederick said. "They provide much needed, high quality daycare to children in Delaware County and assistance to parents seeking this same quality day care."
The United Way provided the center with a community service grant in the amount of $6,300 for upgrades to their technology infrastructure.
The center's staff will attend additional software-training sessions to help those using the computers to become more familiar with software programs such as Microsoft XP and Microsoft Office. The sessions will be held by the Cardinal Health System's training center at no additional cost.
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