V. Outreach and Engagement

A. Community Forums

Engagement with the community was a key objective of the project for awareness and relationship building. The themes presented included economic and job development, wages, telehealth, community access, computer education and refurbishment and social networking.

The Central Sierra Connect team held community forums, and also participated in other forums in the region. One example discussion was the presentation to the Calaveras County Economic Summit in the fall of 2009. This summit is one of the most significant business gatherings of its kind in the county. Partnering with one local ISPs, CSC showed the potential of broadband, gave an update on the project and offered ideas for adopting broadband applications in the workplace. Motherlode Internet talked about the CASF grant and shared information on the broadband infrastructure deployment plans. A press release for the event is located online here: http://www.calaverasenterprise.com/articles/2009/10/20/news/news01_summit.txt

B. Meetings with Local Elected Officials

ATCAA CSC staff met with members of regional legislative offices over the course of the project. At these meetings, held either in-person or over the telephone, the officials were provided with materials from CETF as well as a one-page summary of the whole project.

Handouts provided: drafts of regional shove-ready projects, Stimulus recommendations, CETF Approach to Federal Funding, CETF Strategic Partners and ARRA.

Meetings:
CSC kept in touch with the officials’ staffers via email and contacted them as needed for project updates.

Weekly regional conference calls were established on Friday at 10 AM for all five-county members of the Board of Supervisors and County Administrators to keep them up-to-date with project developments.

C. 211 Development

In an effort to bring 211 to the Central Sierra region, planning and preparation has begun to build a strong collaborative committed to a unified Information and Referral program. Staff attended both the California 211 conference as well as the Alliance of Information and Referral Systems (AIRS) National Conference. CSC has received the 211 Toolkit, which will familiarize the team with the process of forming a 211. In addition, key stakeholders have been identified to determine which of these partners are in favor of forming a 211 and which need more information, started to develop a needs assessment and are researching funding opportunities.

D. Telemedicine Development

California Telehealth Network (CTN) is a project parallel to CETF and brought to the attention of CETF as a result of the broadband imitative and studies.

Objectives:

·   Connect more than 300 rural sites with each other, and with a network of specialty providers at academic medical centers.
·   Improve access within rural and underserved areas to high quality, collaborative health services.
·   Provide state-of-the art technology and security; high levels of reliability, scalability and flexibility; and improved telecommunications quality for rural health providers.

All five CSC counties have medical facilities that would benefit from the CTN funding, bringing Telehealth to these rural communities. Faced with isolation and the lack of psychologists, the region does not have ready access to this type of medical care. Bringing broadband to the area will help facilitate that access.

·   The Telehealth Network will create new telecommunications infrastructure, eventually allowing California’s rural communities to access a broad range of technology-enhanced services to improve the quality of health care.
·   Strong emphasis will be placed on infrastructure development, telecommunications quality and technical support.
·   The network will also be developed for use as a resource for emergency services and disaster preparedness. Given the location and propensity to be affected by wildland fires, a comprehensive readiness for disasters of this type is critically needed.

The CTN project, spearheaded by University of California, Davis, sent out a request for Letters of Agency from interested medical facilities. All the medical facilities in the five-county region that would meet the criteria and some that CTN did not identify but would be beneficial to the region, were contacted and encouraged to participate. As a result 36 medical facilities in the Central Sierra Connect Region were deemed eligible for participation in this Rural Health Care Pilot Program that will support the connection of more than 6,000 public and non-profit health care providers nationwide to telehealth networks to improve patient care.

Identified facilities include four major hospitals; three County Behavioral Health; MACT Health Board in four counties; Indian health dental clinic, in addition to various outlying clinic locations.

Future broadband access will provide residents in rural locations better quality of care. Home health care workers will be connected remotely with specialists. The ability to utilize a combination of images from digital cameras, video phone encounters, and access to electronic health records will improve care for home-bound isolated community members and will provide for a better overall well being for the region.

F. Neighborhood Information Centers

ATCAA has a 26 year history of serving families and individuals in the region with the mission to create opportunities for low-income residents to help themselves economically and to become active and contributing members of the community. ATCAA has innovative programs that have addressed the Digital Divide in the region: ATCAA InfoNet is a model community information-and-referral project that improves access to community services via a five-county interactive community website and 21 independent public access terminals at Neighborhood Information Centers (NICs) which provide free Internet access. These centers are located in libraries and community-based organizations, local homeless and domestic violence shelters, Community Centers, Family Learning Centers and Job Connection sites. The website has a combined total of 1200 health and human service agency/program/healthcare listings made up of non-profit and public service organizations and local healthcare providers. The NICs provide trained staff and equipment to assist residents in accessing online detailed information about local services. In addition, the InfoNet websites position the region for the statewide implementation of 211 by developing a comprehensive database component necessary for implementation of a regional 211 center. ATCAA's regional system of five Family Learning Centers over three counties serve some of the region's most extreme pockets of poverty and provide family services including computer literacy and computer labs for job training, free Internet access, educational opportunities and seeking out services to move families towards self-sufficiency.

ATCAA CSC was awarded a grant for $40,000 by the California Consumer Protection Foundation (CCPF) to assist with meeting CETF project.
The InfoNet website http://infonettc.org was successfully rebuilt and relaunched with the addition of Alpine and Mariposa county information and the database was cleaned up and realigned with 211 taxonomy in preparation for a potential 211 application to the CPUC.

Three new NICs were established: one at the Markleeville Library in Alpine County, one at the Lodge in Bear Valley, Alpine County and one at Mariposa Safe Families in Mariposa County. Three NICs were refurbished: one at Summerville Community Center, one at the Jamestown Family Resource Center in Tuolumne County and one at the Camanche Lake Community Center in Amador County. A plan was developed with the assistance of Mary Sawicki, Director of Calaveras Works and Human Services to receive pass-throughs of county equipment from various local governmental agencies to ATCAA for redistribution, pending receipt of ARRA or other grant funds.

G. ARRA Public Computer Center Grant Application

ATCAA Central Sierra Connect had the privilege of participating in the California Emerging Technology Fund’s $7 million ARRA Public Computer Center Application. The application is still pending as of the time of this report.

Central Sierra Connect formed to address a common lack of technology resources in the rural, remote five-county region. More than 50 local public, private and government partners have teamed up with ATCAA CSC on this effort. The ATCAA Central Sierra Connect Rural Access Model provides greater access to technology-based cultural, health and human services and connectivity in isolated outlying communities distinguished by a high level of low-income and a low level of technical skills.

This project will increasingly meet current basic survival and quality of life needs and will lay the foundation for future communication and economic well-being. A trilogy of infrastructures - emerging wireless (wireless) technology, a regional Information and Referral (I&R) network of computer labs with digitally literate staff and volunteers, and skills training for service providers and residents - is the backbone for progress in an isolated environment.

CSC's continuing strategy is:

·   Upgrade and expand the existing network of drop-in Neighborhood Information Centers through creation of dedicated computer labs in both outlying communities and high-traffic agencies that target unserved and underserved populations to provide improved access to computers and the Internet.
·   Expand trained staff and volunteers who provide outreach and teach technology skills.
·   Provide computer literacy training including Internet skills, basic computer instruction, youth-focused digital life skills, certification in applications in demand by local employers, and internships in partnership with the local Workforce Development Board.
·   Bring in public and private partners to strengthen local web content as well as establish programs for low and no-cost equipment, broadband service and technical support.

Each county will have stronger public-private partnerships, heightened regional interest and access in technology, broadband and the Internet, current and complete information on needs, options and costs for broadband service and training, and a prioritized course of action to make dramatic strides to close the rural “Digital Divide.” Residents in all parts of the rural region will have comprehensive access to affordable broadband technology and support services, so that they can be prepared to make full use of emerging technology in all aspects of their lives to connect, communicate and compete.

Work Plan:
Jobs Created:
Outcomes:

H. California Virtual Campus Grant Appications

Currently Amador County has limited access to traditional brick and mortar establishments for higher learning. Distance learning opportunities are ideal, but because access to high-speed Internet options are scarce, satellite learning sites are an ideal option to provide learning opportunities to the population.

The first of these “satellites” will be the Camanche Lake Community Center (CLCC). Through a T1 connection provided by a grant award from California Virtual Campus, the Center will be able to provide the facilities for community members to access online learning options, as well as the education, assistance and counseling necessary to give local students every opportunity for success, whatever their goals. CLCC will also be partnering with the ATCAA Ione Family Learning Center (IFLC), to connect with the Hispanic population. IFLC provides English language instruction, GED preparation, citizenship classes, job skills, parenting, early childhood education and interactive literacy activities in Amador County. Through this partnership the Center will engage English Language Learners to provide computer literacy courses as well as access to the USA Learns! program, which would give these community members the tools to improve their English skills while increasing their comfort level with the computer and the Internet, increasing broadband adoption.

CLCC also intends to work with Cosumnes River College (CRC) to provide instruction to those students ready to take advantage of online and distance learning in how to use the online services offered by the college. They will learn how to communicate with instructors and classmates through CRC’s i-mail system, how to enroll and pay for their classes through e-services and how to use the online learning systems used by the college.

Through these strategies, the Center will help increase student readiness and success, as well as build the skills necessary to become a part of a talented and skilled workforce.

I. USDA-RUS Community Connect Grant Applications

The CSC team partnered with two ISPs and two local key stakeholders in two separate counties to apply for USDA Community Connect grants for their counties.

Markleeville, Alpine County
CSC worked with Rita Lovell of the Alpine County Library and Bruce Komito of WPTI Telecomm to apply for a CC grant to establish broadband service and a community center at the Library for Markleeville, CA. The Markleeville Rural Internet Access Project, proposed by a community partnership of public and private businesses, agencies and community groups, seeks to provide critical broadband access, technology services and upgrades to the library-community center in the remote, unserved community of Markleeville in Alpine County. Markleeville, the county seat and home to nearby Grover Hotsprings State Park, currently has no broadband access for its year-round residents or the thousands of visitors to the region, and is about to lose its only library to budget cuts.

Located between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park, Alpine County is a remote rural, mountainous area of the Sierra Nevada in central eastern California. Alpine County borders five other rural counties - Eldorado, Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne, and Mono - and includes portions of three national forests, two national wilderness areas and a state park (Humboldt-Toiyabe, Stanislaus, and Eldorado National Forests, the Mokelumne and Carson-Iceberg Wildernesses and Grover Hot Springs State Park). Alpine County consists of approximately 465,00 acres over 730 square miles, with less than two residents per square mile. Most of the county’s 1,200 permanent residents are concentrated in the remote mountain communities of Markleeville, Woodfords, Bear Valley and Kirkwood. Only one highway serves Markleeville year-round, as two of the three major highways in Alpine County, Highways 4 and 88, close in the winter for as long as six months, and are only passable by snowmobile. The elevation in Alpine County ranges from 4,800 to over 11,400 feet above sea level.

WPTI Telecom LLC (WPTI), a provider of broadband network and telecommunications services, will serve the Markleeville community. The company focuses on specialized connectivity and Internet Technologies, including DSL, Wireless, Virtual Private Networks (VPN's), VoIP and the latest Web technologies. WPTI's network services provide cost effective solutions to ISPs and large end-users in the Western United States. WPTI has been granted a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to operate as a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) in the state of Nevada and is providing dedicated digital telephone services in Nevada and California.

Goals of the project:
·   To save and upgrade an important community center and library which would otherwise be diminished because of budget constraints in the current economic downturn.
·   To provide long-awaited high-speed Internet access to the region, which currently has only dial-up service.
·   To provide knowledge and technology skills to community members so they can take advantage of online learning, information and opportunities.
The application is currently in due diligence with USDA.

Greeley Hill, Mariposa County
CSC worked with Ken Pulvino of Birder’s Homestead and Matt Ashe of BitsStar to apply for a Community Connect grant to establish broadband service and expand an existing community center into a public computer lab in Greeley Hill, CA. Greeley Hill, is a remote, rural community located in the Sierra Foothills of California. The terrain surrounding the Community Center (~ 3,100 ft. elevation) is mountainous with a widely dispersed population spread throughout the hills surrounding the small group of homes and businesses comprising the Rand McNally estimated population of 350. The Greeley Hill community does not have a broadband Internet service capability at this time and has a history of suffering from widespread, chronic poverty level conditions with high unemployment and fixed income senior citizens. The project is needed to create an opportunity for residents to participate more fully in the marketplace of modern America and the world as a means of reducing the harsh economic conditions that have plagued this area.

The goals of the project are centered on using broadband web access availability as a means of empowering residents to be the drivers in improving all aspects of the health of the region. In addition to the enriching effect that affordable, high speed web access can have on the personal and social aspects of residents’ lives, the following key areas of shared regional benefits will clearly be the focus with the arrival of this proposed broadband system.

·   Career opportunities will be expanded tremendously for families who seek jobs as virtual or telecommuting employees of companies recruiting from other parts of the state and country.
·   Local business owners and residents who wish to start a business will no longer be forced to compete from the disadvantaged position of not having competitive access to the World Wide Web both in terms of marketing their products and services as well as interacting with market opportunities.
·   Job training and skill development will be enhanced with the provision of access points at the Community Center where students and graduates can add new and sought after skills for obtaining employment via e-learning options.
·   Senior citizens will have much improved communication and awareness of current government and private offerings to serve their needs.
·   Young job seekers will have a better view of what positions are available via websites and how to compete for those positions.
·   Telemedicine will be a more accessible option for health professionals at the clinic and in other emergency services.
·   Police and public safety can respond more quickly to quickly developing needs as they arise in the Greeley Hill area.
·   Local students will be much better prepared to meet the requirements of their curriculum both at the local elementary school and in the large percentage of families where the children are home schooled.
·   Remote E-government participation in the deliberations and county sessions that have a direct impact on the quality of life in Greeley Hill will be possible in conjunction with streaming video from the Board of Supervisors’ meeting hall.
·   There will be a direct financial benefit to residents and to the county with the replacement of costly ISDN services to current critical services locations. The county budget is already facing financial gaps between revenues and expenses that this affordable service will help to alleviate.

This application is also currently in due diligence.

Mi-Wuk Library
Due to budgetary constraints, one of the county branch libraries has been temporarily closed. A taskforce was developed to investigate the possibility of keeping the library open part-time by applying for USDA-RUS community center funding. CSC created a grant application to renovate the library building for community Internet access in the library building, thereby providing Internet to the community and saving the library from full closure. Unfortunately this grant application did not progress due to the constraints that the service provider would have in taking on responsibility for building infrastructure costs. But the grant application did rally the community and the ISP to creatively generate infrastructure solutions.