Age-Friendly Greater Pittsburgh

Age-Friendly Greater Pittsburgh is dedicated to making our region more inclusive and respectful of all ages. Age-Friendly brings generations together to reimagine how our neighborhoods are built and to advance equity through advocacy, education and innovation. Among other initiatives, they convene a Digital Access Work Group, focused on improving digital literacy and access points for older residents. For more information, visit their website at agefriendlypgh.org or contact Assistant Director Cassandra Masters at cassandra@agefriendlypgh.org or (412) 532-7144. 

 AgeWell at the Jewish Community Center of Pittsburgh offers a "one-on-one" tech tutoring program in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh School of Technology and Information. The partners create volunteer opportunities for students interested in working with seniors and the sessions became so popular that they’ve begun to recruit volunteers from the broader community. The one-on-one format seeks to meet any digital skill level. 

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh offers a variety of Digital Skills classes and workshops at library locations throughout the city. Topics include the basics of how to use a mouse and keyboard, how to use your smartphone or tablet, how to borrow digital library materials like eBooks and audiobooks, how to use Microsoft Word, and how to stay safe and secure online. All Digital Skills programs at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh are free and open to all.  

Community Internet Solutions’ (CIS) unique nonprofit Internet Service Provider (ISP) model focuses on underserved communities by combining strategic partnerships, innovative use of technology, and capitalizing on existing community assets to transform them into broadband access hubs. These hubs provide the bandwidth to offer individual homes fast, reliable, secure, private, and affordable Internet access. Residents in Homewood, Wilkinsburg, Coraopolis, and New Kensignton can call 412.223.2453 to sign up and get connected. 

 The Goodwill Tech Academy offers a wide range of digital skills learning opportunities ranging from basic computer navigation classes through introductory IT training programs provided through individualized appointments, webinars, intensive courses, and more.  All offerings are free and open to the public with many services being available both in-person at the Goodwill Workforce Development Center in Lawrenceville or virtually. Learn more by visiting https://www.goodwillswpa.org/tech or calling the Welcome Center at 1-877-499-3526.

The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HAC) has a wide variety of programs available to our residents, some of those programs include Resident Employment Programs, Self-Sufficiency Programs, Referrals and Service Coordination and Resident Computer Programs including Open Computer labs, Digital Literacy Courses, Mobile Computer labs, AARP Digital Skills for 50+ Residents and Afterschool Programming with Stem Coding Academy. Additional program offerings can be found here: https://hacp.org/programs-services/  

Literacy Pittsburgh offers free classes and workshops covering a wide variety of topics including Email Etiquette, LinkedIn, Typing, Avoiding Scams, Google Docs, Drive, Calendar, Gmail, and more. We also offer Microsoft Office certification preparation courses to prepare adults for workplace success.  Classes are offered in-person and online at our locations and partner sites. Call 412-209-8468, email digitalpgh@literacypittsburgh.org, or visit https://www.literacypittsburgh.org/computer-skills/ for more information.  

Neighborhood Allies works with the Pitt CEC, YMCA Homewood-Brushton, CCAC Homewood-Brushton, and Homewood Children's Village to provide computer literacy education to youth and adults. As a community and economic development nonprofit, we distribute resources to other community organizations and individuals in order to work towards achieving digital equity in our six focus neighborhoods in Allegheny County. To learn more about our digital inclusion work, visit  https://beyondthelaptops.org/  or call 412-471-3727. 

Pitt Information Technology (Pitt IT), in partnership with the Community Engagement Center in the Hill District, held a 6-week IT 101 course for high schoolers with little to no IT support experience. The course introduced students to the role of computers in today’s technology-driven work environment with hands-on lab experiences and industry touchpoints. Students learned customer service, troubleshooting skills, operating systems, hardware, networking, and security. Students will have the opportunity to continue their technology education by attending the Pitt Cyber & Pitt IT’s Air Force Association CyberCamp this summer, along with job shadowing opportunities within Pitt IT and elsewhere. 

STEM Coding Lab is devoted to providing computer science (CS) education to our region's under-resourced youth. Students in under-resourced communities are too infrequently exposed to CS education – the mission of SCL is to provide CS education to those students, so that they can compete in our increasingly digital world and be ready to enter the 21st-century job market. With a primary focus on K-8 learners, SCL programming is conducted during the in-school and after-school hours, as well as the summer months, offering schools and other partners the flexibility necessary to accommodate varying student needs. SCL serves approximately 2,000 students annually, working with schools within the Pittsburgh Public, Sto-Rox, Clairton, Wilkinsburg, and Northgate School Districts, as well as charter schools and many other nonprofit, after-school program providers. Our independently curated curriculum is designed to pique youth interest in topics like robotics, animation and gaming, website/app design, cybersecurity, AI, and more.  

United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania/PA 211 SW is a human service contact center that provides referrals to resources 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year via phone call, text, or chat.  211 resource navigators are able to connect individuals to non-profit organizations which offer digital literacy classes and free or low-cost devices. Call 2-1-1 or visit www.pa211.org 

 Computer Reach is a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit organization that makes technology available to people most in need through refurbished equipment, computer literacy, training, and support. We give away free Desktop Computer Bundles to people in the Greater Pittsburgh Area weekly via our Lottery signup program. We have several Distribution Partners who also  join our Computer Lottery system to help move large lots of computers to their users.   We also partner with multiple nonprofits to provide low cost computers to their  labs and multiple programs . We have a warehouse and an online store to sell higher value computers to the public.