Ready, Willing & Able | The Doe Fund

MicroVideo recently donated 5 sets of their multi-media, interactive training CD-ROMs for the entire Microsoft 95 Suite - a value of nearly $ 36,000 - to The Doe Fund, an innovative non-profit organization based in New York City dedicated to getting homeless men off the streets, off drugs, and into jobs with their Ready, Willing & Able program.

When a major corporation donated 6 workstations and a Novell Network Server for a computer center at The Doe Fund's Harlem residence, there was immediate interest among men in the Ready, Willing & Able program. The only problem was that most didn't have the slightest idea how to use the computers or the Microsoft applications installed on them.

When George McDonald, president and founder of The Doe Fund, met Sternbach this summer, they both agreed that MicroVideo's interactive training tools were a perfect fit for The Doe Fund. The Windows 95 pilot project was so successful that Debbie Carfora, program director, said that men were "literally lining up outside the door" to get on one of the computers and start using it.

Malcolm Wright, previously computer illiterate, states enthusiastically, "I'm very excited - it has opened up a new world to me. (MicroVideo's training program) encouraged me to keep going step-by-step. It was simple for me to follow the instructions."

When asked how he feels about the new MicroVideo Learning Systems Suite courses now available to them, Ready, Willing & Able client Kareem Rodney Grace summed up the overall sentiment of the men, "I'm going to make it my business... the more I use this, the more I'm going to learn. It's taking me to the next level, and that's where I want to be."

George McDonald agreed, "This generous contribution of software from MicroVideo Learning Systems enables The Doe Fund to help our clients help themselves. And this, in fact, is the basic premise of our Ready, Willing & Able program: that motivated homeless adults can rebuild their lives and achieve a new level of independence and self-fulfillment through training and work."

Eric Sternbach enthusiastically adds, "The positive response to our courses by The Doe Fund's clients proves there's a thirst for practical PC knowledge among sectors of society that in the past would have been relegated to now- disappearing blue-collar jobs. Every politician talks about making the homeless productive members of society, and MicroVideo is proud to be able to help The Doe Fund's clients help themselves. We hope this is the first of many underprivileged populations across the nation that will benefit from what we have to offer."

MicroVideo looks forward to a continued relationship with The Doe Fund, and to helping these and more "ready, willing and able" men move towards a brighter future.