Earlier this month Inspiration Corporation’s resource room – the public computer center located upstairs from Inspiration Cafe – received a major upgrade in the form of brand new computers.  The large, flat screen monitors made a big splash at the Cafe, and participants enjoy the greater reliability and speed of the new computers over their older predecessors.

Resource Room
Working on the job search in the resource room.

The computers came from the Department of Family and Support Services at the City of Chicago, part of Recovery Act funding that the city received to upgrade all of the public computer centers in the city.
The city-wide project is administered through SmartChicago, and more information can be found on their site:

“According to a 2009 study commissioned by the City of Chicago, as many as 40 percent of city residents lack home broadband access, making libraries and other public computer centers essential resources for employment, training, and educational opportunities. Over 60 percent of Chicago libraries now report average wait times for a computer of three hours or longer. The SmartChicago Public Computer Centers project proposes a wide-scale upgrade and expansion of workstation capacity at more than 150 locations, including city libraries, community colleges, public housing sites, workforce centers, senior centers, after-school programs, and other community locations throughout Chicago.” (Broadband USA)

The resource room gives Inspiration Corporation participants and other citizens of Uptown access to phone, email, and fax services, as well as word processing programs to create and edit resumes and cover letters.  These are increasingly essential tools in a world where almost every aspect of the job search, from initial postings and announcements to applications, has moved online.

Volunteers are always in need to supervise the resource room, coordinating the sign in process, monitoring the use policy, and assisting users with tech related questions.  If you are interested, please visit our volunteer page.