Another success story from Jennifer - November 2009

I wrote this a few weeks ago and am just now getting it to you.  It is to  say thank you and also you can hopefully use it as a fundraising tool.  I  am not in a position to donate money to your program but I hope this may help  philanthropists see the value of PCs for Maine.

See attachment-

Take Care,
Jennifer V.

For you all at PC’s of Maine who work to make this program a success I want to thank you.  You have given my family the tools we needed to live a more wholesome life. 

My husband and I had been trying to get a computer ever since we moved in together.  Our main goal was to use it to help him read, write and speak English.  We did not have a lot of money to put towards this goal so we started out with an old computer we found in the Uncle Henry’s Swap/Sell guide.  This computer was so slow that it could not handle high speed internet, and it was very frustrating to use. 

So we decided we would get ourselves a very nice computer, we did not have the money to go out and buy one, nor did we want to use credit, so we tried a rent-to-buy and got a very nice PC.  I am computer literate but I had never had a computer of my own that I had to set up with drivers, virus protections, etc.  So I set out to get Microsoft Office but that was way too expensive, so I looked for something else but did not know what was what.  So I changed my focus to antivirus software.  Wow that was too expensive too!  We wanted to watch a movie on our PC, but we needed a driver.  I didn’t know what a driver was or where to get one! So to sum that experience up it was about three weeks of research, frustration and defeat.  I gave up and we took the computer back. 

We continued to dream of how a computer would help my husband learn English and help me find a job.  We could talk with our family in Peru more often, and much cheaper than by phone.  I could work on my webpage and market my artwork.  One day as I was leaving my local library with my children, I noticed a flyer for PC’s for Maine.  I almost passed it by because I respect my husbands dislike of accepting assistance and my first thought was that it would offend him to sign up for any type of help.  The truth was we really needed help.  We were saving to buy a house and trying to pay rent and feed our kids and the thought of being able to try to buy a computer and all the software was something I was setting aside as an unrealistic dream.

I took the flyer anyway and read through it and what really caught my attention was that here was an affordable computer that actually came all set to go.  I think the fact that it came ready to use was what really helped my husband see the value also.  So I applied and we were accepted to the program.  We saved for three months to get the computer and it was worth every penny.  I was very impressed by the walk through of the computer.  When I went to pick up my machine everything that was on it was explained to me thoroughly.  It was all a very positive experience. 

Now we keep in touch with friends and family daily.  Believe it or not but our phone bill is a fifth of what it was before we got our computer!  My husband has been able to study English on his time and he is doing very well which has given his boss incentive to give him a substantial raise in pay.  Although I searched I did not find a job, but I am building my home based business.  Our computer has given us access to a wealth of information.  We also use it for simple entertainment like photo sharing, music and movies.  I hope PCs for Maine is around for a long time enriching the lives of others.