Donated IT Infrastructure Helps the Disabled in Rural Arkansas
Friendship Community Care (FCC) helps individuals with developmental disabilities and the elderly in the Arkansas River Valley region to lead dignified lives through supportive programs. The Arkansas River Valley encompasses ten counties, and many of FCC's clients live in the area's rural communities. The organization is often the only connection for rural families to receive various services for their developmentally disabled or elderly loved ones.
Before learning about TechSoup, FCC staff dealt with many technological infrastructure problems that impeded their ability to manage service delivery. Staff in the field could not communicate safely and quickly with headquarters staff, and tasks such as organizing email took much too long. Through TechSoup's software donation program, FCC received licenses for Microsoft's Windows operating system, Office, and Server. The donation led to a complete overhaul of its IT system, which dramatically increased productivity and the number clients FCC could serve.
FCC now operates with secure email access, which prior to the software donation could only be achieved by faxing or mailing data. What used to take days now takes moments via an encrypted Internet connection. Communications can now take place securely online, minimizing costly travel and time taken away from direct service. FCC and its staff credit the donations with bringing them out of the IT Dark Ages.
