Jessica knows every person has a voice and a story to tell, but every story doesn’t necessarily make it into the mainstream. At the Center for Digital Storytelling (CDS) in Berkeley, California, young and old are given the tools of digital media to craft, record and share their stories of individuals and communities.

Serving at CDS is the first step for Jessica towards reaching her longer term goals of publicizing alternative media. Utilizing her journalism education is very important to her, and serving at a rapidly growing non-profit is teaching her how to do that. “I’m gaining skills I never could have learned in the classroom, like time management, interpersonal dynamics, and project coordination.”

In the heart of San Francisco, California, Homeless Prenatal Program (HPP) seizes the motivating opportunity created by pregnancy and parenthood to teach local families how to help themselves, giving them the self-sufficiency and skills they need to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty. Through HPP, families can receive counseling, education, housing assistance, childcare, and advocacy. At HPP’s Technology Center, family members can learn the practical uses of technology, like word processing, and how to use the Internet to research health questions and find jobs and housing.

In the South End of Boston, Massachusetts, Emilio Flores believes strongly in the power of community. Last year, Castle Square Tenants Organization (CSTO) embarked on a wireless internet project to provide FREE high speed internet access throughout their 500-unit affordable housing community, using MIT’s open source Roofnet mesh networking software. Emilio’s participation as a VISTA volunteer became essential when the entire budget granted to the project—research, equipment, and training—equaled about the one-year salary of a qualified tech support employee.

For a small nonprofit, creating positive impact is difficult enough; building the technology infrastructure to support that work can be even harder. The Community Software Lab (CSL), housed at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, supports nonprofit organizations by providing access to technology resources, software and server-space. In addition to web services, such as web hosting, domain registration, email lists, anti-virus and spam filtering, the CSL offers low-cost technology consulting and custom software, such as membership and attendance trackers (MembershipTrack) and a searchable, online directory of nonprofit organizations throughout the nation (The Hub). By focusing on under-served nonprofits, the CSL works to close the “digital divide” that prevents low-income communities from utilizing new technology and media tools.