Lowell Telecommunications Corp. Gets Grant

Michael Lafleur, Sun Staff
Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - LOWELL

The Lowell Telecommunications Corp. and the city's United Teen Equality Center have been awarded a $22,000 grant to encourage young people to get involved in the community by asking them to develop multimedia campaigns.

Announced last month, the award was one of only eight granted nationwide by the Community Technology Centers Network, a private national organization that supports community-based technology education programs.

The local agencies' joint efforts will begin this month and run through the end of the summer, said Felicia Sullivan, LTC's director of community programming.

UTEC teens who are already trained in media production will be paired with younger peers who are not, teaching them the use of computers and video production as civic-organizing tools.

"As we develop, we're really trying to have (political) "organizing" be at the forefront of our mission," said Gregg Croteau, UTEC's executive director. "This is just another opportunity that allows us to take that to the next level."

In the project, the group of six to eight young adults, aged 19-22, will work with a comparable number of younger teens in identifying Lowell neighborhoods' needs and problems, then let people know about them by creating posters, filmed public-service announcements or Web sites.

"The idea is for them to go to community groups and hopefully the City Council or their representatives whoever has the capability of solving the problem or addressing the need and say, 'We think you should do something about this,'" Sullivan said. "It's mostly geared toward letting young people know that they can make the place where they live better."

Michael Lafleur's e-mail address is mlafleur@lowellsun.com .