LISC/ Chicago celebrated the graduation of dozens of community residents from the Smart Communities program by giving out 60 netbooks to adult graduates. The graduation held on Thursday at the Kennedy-King College Center for Working Families. The event was to highlight the citywide commitment to galvanize tech capacity and expand digital access within moderate and low-income communities.

The Smart Communities program works to ensure digital access for children and families, businesses, agencies and other institutions in five New Communities Program neighborhoods. The program is part of the City of Chicago’s Digital Excellence Initiative, which is supported by a federal stimulus grant from the US Department of Commerce that was jointly applied for and won by the City and LISC/Chicago. Additional funding for the project is provided by the MacArthur Foundation and the Smart Chicago Collaborative housed at the Chicago Community Trust.

More than 1,300 adults including low-income residents and local small business owners, and 100 youth throughout the program’s five target neighborhoods – Auburn Gresham, Chicago Lawn, Englewood, Humboldt Park and Pilsen – received computers. For more information about Smart Communities program, visit www.lisc-chicago.org or www.smartcommunitieschicago.org.