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The Saga of Virtually Wired

by Coralee Whitcomb
CPSR Northeast Regional Director,
President, Virtually Wired

CPSR News Volume 15, Number 3: Summer 1997

Four years ago I began dreaming of an organization devoted to bringing the least advantaged of us into the Information Age. I imagined a space filled with people from all walks of life sitting in front of computers, sharing discoveries, teaching each other, and becoming involved in shaping the world around us. Two years ago a Boston visionary and eccentric-friend, Alex Randall, began to construct a computer center in a street-level space he owned in the center of Boston. He filled it with secondhand 386 machines and talked a local ISP into providing a free ISDN connection. Alex hadn't thought through what he had in mind, but he instinctively knew for such a place was needed. I ran into Alex just as he was ready to open the doors. On April 1, 1995-only coincidentally "April Fool's Day"-I put a sign in the window looking for volunteers. In two weeks, the list had grown to 35. On May 1, Virtually Wired (VW) opened for business.

Our fundamental commitment was to provide unlimited, human-supported access and to promote the Internet as an everyday tool rather than a one time event. To start, we offered free, all-day access to the Internet. The World Wide Web was still brand new and offered the most effective means yet for bringing the most computer-phobic into the high-tech world. As time passed we developed stable volunteer coverage and maintained public access 45 hours a week at $3/day or $10/month.

Boston's Mayor Menino visited our grand opening in August. I believe it was his first introduction to the concept of community networking. By the fall we were also offering seven to nine classes each week in basic office software and Internet topics, and we began outreach efforts to human-service-oriented nonprofit organizations. From that time on, we've worked extensively with day care centers, day camps, homeless shelters, youth-at-risk groups, the unemployed, the disabled, and, always, the general public. I can claim, with confidence, that hundreds of lives have been changed for the better inside our doors. It would take far more space than The CPSR Newsletter can provide to list all the joys I've had watching the magic of Virtually Wired unfold, but there are a few instances worth special attention.

Chris, the first volunteer, was new to Boston and down on his luck but bursting with technical, software, and carpentry expertise. He slept on VW's floor for the first three months and looked after the equipment. His incredible energy moved him on to greener pastures and now, when Chris reappears to say hello, his limousine awaits outside the door.

Curtis, a gangly, 12-year-old inner city kid, quietly explored the Internet and started a business selling a newsletter on the secrets of the computer game, Mortal Kombat.

Joe, a former music impresario recovering from a 20-year heroin addiction, totally absorbed every aspect of computers and now makes his living teaching emotionally disturbed clients from the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission their first real job skills.

Chuck, a "tech extraordinaire" with two weeks of sobriety under his belt, adopted our old machines as his own and now has them running Windows '95. He flew from the shelter system to permanent housing in record time.

Kim, newly graduated from college and doing temp work, was frustrated with her new email account. She became a regular at our weekly Women's Night, and is now a highly successful web page designer. These stories are not rare in the community computer center and networking world. I count myself as blessed to share the company of the incredibly energetic good hearts that drive this movement. Introducing every person who asks ato this new way of life is not easy. It requires teaching at a very intimate level, wrestling with machines and networks that love to play tricks, and prevailing within a world that still doesn't understand the overhead of having every one of us online. This is exhausting work, and it is not well supported.

As we close our doors, I have time to reflect on what I've learned and how our world must change to ensure that we all enjoy the full potential of Internet technology. While we promote the idea of virtual community through this medium, my experience shows that we can also create an extremely powerful physical community by intertwining the many talents and interests a community networking project requires. Even without the facelessness of online communication, these machines can equalize the homeless with the wealthy, as they uncover a real predisposition to help and teach and support each other. Probably 75% of Virtually Wired's 70 volunteers are borderline homeless, yet they are masters within our walls as they help our more well-to-do patrons. As new users become acclimated to computer communications, they quickly tire of browsing the web and become truly engaged as they discover newsgroups, chat rooms, and email. Young men in trouble with the law allow excitement to surface as they find success in making the computer respond to their commands. Beyond job skills and productivity, this technology can truly alter the perception of the role each of us can play in our world.

The reasons Virtually Wired is closing will not come as a surprise to anyone who does this work. The project was born of passion. Rather than writing business plans and doing the legwork required of corporate sponsorship, we put all our energies into making the place run. Since we were without a track record or big name affiliations, foundations had no stomach for supporting our gut level beliefs that this endeavor was the right thing to do. Having no big grant to work with, we remained a totally volunteer staff. Volunteers are wonderful, but few envision cleaning bathrooms or staying till midnight to be sure the daily tasks are completed. Fancier projects, with big name affiliations, found the spotlight in the newspapers and six o'clock news. And finally, our original benefactor, Alex, went bankrupt and lost control of the space we inhabit. At this point, no amount of passion and changed lives can fix the real world problems we face.

The direction we take from here is uncertain. A highly visible and compassionate article in the Boston Globe chronicling our story has brought offers of help. It's possible there will be a Virtually Wired II one day. My personal quest, however, is to take our story to the powers that be and to rally all those who benefit from community networking to demand that our society provide all of us with the means to participate fully through this medium. To insist that community computer centers and networks become an everyday part of the landscape-as available as libraries, park benches, and pay phones. And to ensure that from now on, that today's Camelots last longer than two years.

NOTICE: At press-time, Virtually Wried has received a promise of funding to reopen- Watch The Newsletter for details.

Coralee Whitcomb is President of Virtually Wired, the editor of Telecom Post and has recently been elected to a new term on the CPSR Board of Directors.

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