The Computer Learning Center (CLC) in Sheridan Devon Apartments on Chicago's North Side is a center of great activity!  Senior and disabled residents in the building learn to use the Internet, send and receive e-mail, use software such as Word and Excel, and practice typing.   Many also come to learn English because a large percentage of the residents in Sheridan Devon are immigrants.  They come from places like Russia, Ukraine, India, Pakistan, the former Yugoslavia, Korea, China and the Philippines, to name a few.

The CLC is directed by Alycia Alexander, an AmeriCorps*VISTA member with the CTCNet project out of the University of Massachusetts in Boston.

Connections with the Community

Our CLC works with other community groups, such as Loyola University Chicago, the YMCA, local schools, churches, mosques and synagogues.  We invite our neighbors to participate in computer and English as a Second Language classes.

Special Events

This year, our residents held a party for Victory Day (May 9th), celebrating the end of World War II.  There was food, dancing and special recognition of veterans.

In the fall, residents from several buildings came together for a Unity Party to celebrate and share their different cultures and heritages.  Residents brought food and had a potluck dinner, followed by a vote on the best food.   Afterwards, the residents sang and danced together.  The Unity Party was planned long before the events on September 11th, but those events added special significance to the party.  The residents sang very moving patriotic American songs and related their stories about coming to America.

For the holidays, Merrill Lynch in downtown Chicago allowed residents to make free phone calls to their friends and family.  This was part of an event organized by the Chicago Department on Aging.  Many residents get only this one chance every year to speak to relatives and friends because they can't afford the long distance costs at home.

Success Stories

Several of our regular CLC guests have become volunteer teachers for computer workshops.  We have the added advantage of having multi-lingual residents, and thereby multi-lingual volunteers!  Some of our residents have taken the extra step of establishing community connections of their own, widening our reach far beyond this building.  We're very proud of their progress!

View other pictures highlighting some of our Special Events in the Picture Gallery.