Program Information

Our Mission: The Computers for Families Project seeks to eliminate the digital divide by providing students from low-income families with refurbished computers, discounted Internet access, and training.

Computers for Families has placed more than 8,500 computers in the homes of Santa Barbara County school children whose parents cannot afford to purchase these increasingly important learning tools. In addition to providing computers, CFF trains teachers and students how to effectively utilize them to enhance education.

Who we are: Computers for Families is a project of the Santa Barbara Partners in Education (Partners), a non-profit organization with members from business, industry, government, and local schools and colleges. Partners' mission is to serve as a catalyst for focused and broad-based actions that yield excellence in Santa Barbara area schools thereby producing outstanding graduates.

Los Prietos Boys Camp
Computers for Families maintains a close working relationship with the Santa Barbara County Probation Department and the staff at Los Prietos Boys Camp, sponsoring a Vocational Technology class for adjudicated youth.

How It Works
Surplus computers are donated to Computers for Families for refurbishment by local businesses, organizations, and individuals. The computers are refurbished in house as well as by students of the Los Prietos Boys Camp, a County-managed residential treatment program for youth committed by local courts. Students in local elementary schools without computer access in their homes are identified during the fourth through sixth grade and invited to a CFF Distribution. Distributions are conducted on a school-by-school basis, during which time families and students receive an orientation, information regarding Internet, and training on the applications on their computer. At the end of the evening, the families take their computers home.

Impact on Participating Los Prietos Students
The Los Robles Vocational Technology class gives Los Prietos students self esteem and a chance to develop meaningful skills for a future career. It also offers them a positive opportunity to provide some form of reparation to the community at large.Los Robles students often volunteer at the CFF Distribution NIghts, during which time they serve as experts, technicians and/or translators for the families receiving the computers, a huge confidence and esteem building activity.