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July 15. 2012 6:07PM
Recycling a computer for a new user starts with wiping all old and personal information off the hard drive. Computer Training Assistance Corps Director Steve Boswick says CTAC has an in-house cleaning program and provides that service for a small fee to people who may want to donate computers to other organizations. (BARBARA TAORMINA PHOTO)
Goffstown computer recycler spreads technological goodwill
Recycling a computer for a new user starts with wiping all old and personal information off the hard drive. Computer Training Assistance Corps Director Steve Boswick says CTAC has an in-house cleaning program and provides that service for a small fee to people who may want to donate computers to other organizations. (BARBARA TAORMINA PHOTO)
GOFFSTOWN — A couple of hundred New Hampshire residents and families are now browsing the Internet for jobs, paying bills online and helping kids with school assignments thanks to the Computer Training Assistance Corps, or CTAC, a Goffstown-based nonprofit group that recycles old computers and puts them into homes of low-income people who need them.
CTAC, which has been up and running for about 18 months, has taken in about 1,000 used computers donated by businesses, schools, nonprofits groups and individuals who have moved on to faster, sleeker machines. The systems are overhauled, the hard drives are wiped clean and the computers go back out to income-eligible families who pay about $65 for either laptops or desktop models.
“A computer is an appliance that really needs to be in every home,” said Steve Bothwick, who merged years of experience working for nonprofit organizations with some impressive technical expertise to launch CTAC. Old friends and co-workers from his days as an IT director at New Hampshire Public Radio and Child and Family Services have stepped in with support as volunteers and board members for the group.
There are other organizations that will take old computers, restore then and channel them to charities and people in need, but many require the owners to wipe the hard drives clean, and pack and ship the equipment. CTAC has streamlined that process.
“We wipe the hard drives clean with software that's approved by the Department of Defense,” said Bothwick. “All old and personal data is totally wiped off the drive.”
And CTAC trumps other computer recycling operations by keeping it local, he said.
“Businesses know they are affecting the long-term technical experience of the local work force that isn't otherwise getting any training,” said Bothwick.
And there's also the bonus of a tax write off.
CTAC's tech-savvy team of volunteers who do the restoring and refurbishing are particularly fond of computers that are about five or six years old and run Windows XP or something newer. Computers that are beyond redemption are broken down for usable parts and scrap that's sold to bring in a little money to keep the lights on and the phones hooked up at the organizations home base at 711 Mast Road.
CTAC also helps local low-income people who own computers that need repairs.
A Goffstown woman who has an older system with some problems stopped in recently to ask about prices and computers. To be eligible for a restored CTAC computer, individuals and families must be receiving some type of financial aid, such as food stamps or a housing subsidy. Although the woman didn't fit the income guidelines for a restored computer, she did fit Bothwick's mission of spreading technological good will.
After chatting with her about her computer for a couple minutes, Bothwick understood it needed a relatively simple fix, and the part she needed was out back in CTAC's workshop. He told her to bring her computer by, and he'd get it back up and running — no worries, and no cost.
Bothwick genuinely enjoys talking technology to people at all levels, a trait almost unheard of in the high-tech world.
“I need to understand what people are using a computer for,” he said. “We try to target that need with what we have available.”
And for people whose skills needs a little fine-tuning, CTAC offers a range of training programs designed to target individual goals.
Bothwick said other nonprofits agencies and schools have been great at providing a stream of old computers and several local businesses have also been generous. But he also sees some big pockets of technological need. Seniors, disabled residents, immigrant communities are all groups that could reap huge benefits with personal computers and he is hoping that as the word spreads about CTAC, more businesses will consider sending old equipment his way.
“We want people to see this as a local place,” he said, adding it's kind of a local tech eco-system where all the parts and players are inter-dependent. And whether people are donating a machine that can be restored or one that has usable parts, CTAC welcomes the support.
“A computer in every home is important,” he said. “But a working computer is even more important.”
btaormina@newstote.com
CTAC, which has been up and running for about 18 months, has taken in about 1,000 used computers donated by businesses, schools, nonprofits groups and individuals who have moved on to faster, sleeker machines. The systems are overhauled, the hard drives are wiped clean and the computers go back out to income-eligible families who pay about $65 for either laptops or desktop models.
“A computer is an appliance that really needs to be in every home,” said Steve Bothwick, who merged years of experience working for nonprofit organizations with some impressive technical expertise to launch CTAC. Old friends and co-workers from his days as an IT director at New Hampshire Public Radio and Child and Family Services have stepped in with support as volunteers and board members for the group.
There are other organizations that will take old computers, restore then and channel them to charities and people in need, but many require the owners to wipe the hard drives clean, and pack and ship the equipment. CTAC has streamlined that process.
“We wipe the hard drives clean with software that's approved by the Department of Defense,” said Bothwick. “All old and personal data is totally wiped off the drive.”
And CTAC trumps other computer recycling operations by keeping it local, he said.
“Businesses know they are affecting the long-term technical experience of the local work force that isn't otherwise getting any training,” said Bothwick.
And there's also the bonus of a tax write off.
CTAC's tech-savvy team of volunteers who do the restoring and refurbishing are particularly fond of computers that are about five or six years old and run Windows XP or something newer. Computers that are beyond redemption are broken down for usable parts and scrap that's sold to bring in a little money to keep the lights on and the phones hooked up at the organizations home base at 711 Mast Road.
CTAC also helps local low-income people who own computers that need repairs.
A Goffstown woman who has an older system with some problems stopped in recently to ask about prices and computers. To be eligible for a restored CTAC computer, individuals and families must be receiving some type of financial aid, such as food stamps or a housing subsidy. Although the woman didn't fit the income guidelines for a restored computer, she did fit Bothwick's mission of spreading technological good will.
After chatting with her about her computer for a couple minutes, Bothwick understood it needed a relatively simple fix, and the part she needed was out back in CTAC's workshop. He told her to bring her computer by, and he'd get it back up and running — no worries, and no cost.
Bothwick genuinely enjoys talking technology to people at all levels, a trait almost unheard of in the high-tech world.
“I need to understand what people are using a computer for,” he said. “We try to target that need with what we have available.”
And for people whose skills needs a little fine-tuning, CTAC offers a range of training programs designed to target individual goals.
Bothwick said other nonprofits agencies and schools have been great at providing a stream of old computers and several local businesses have also been generous. But he also sees some big pockets of technological need. Seniors, disabled residents, immigrant communities are all groups that could reap huge benefits with personal computers and he is hoping that as the word spreads about CTAC, more businesses will consider sending old equipment his way.
“We want people to see this as a local place,” he said, adding it's kind of a local tech eco-system where all the parts and players are inter-dependent. And whether people are donating a machine that can be restored or one that has usable parts, CTAC welcomes the support.
“A computer in every home is important,” he said. “But a working computer is even more important.”
btaormina@newstote.com
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