Fostering Technology

Organization Information:

Organization Name:
Greater Hope Foundation for Children
City & State:
Barstow, 
California
Organization Website:
greaterhopefoundation.com
Organization's Mission Statement

Greater Hope Foundation is dedicated to providing services to children in need. Our goal is to shape the development of children so they can become productive citizens of the community. Greater Hope provides loving and supportive foster homes for children who suffer from abuse, abandonment, neglect and other issues that threaten family stability.

Submission Information

Impact Essay

Barstow, the town that everyone passes through on the way to Las Vegas and the Colorado River, but few stop to take notice of. In this small town lies an organization that is doing big things. Greater Hope Foundation, a treatment foster family agency, is working to keep children in their communities that have been temporarily removed from their parent’s care. Foster care can be a very emotional time for children, and having to move to a new school and new city can be just as traumatic. Greater Hope Foundation certifies foster homes in the Barstow area that are available to take children who are in protective custody. We wouldn’t be able to do this without generous donations from Tech Soup and Microsoft.

Greater Hope Foundation is a nonprofit organization that runs on a tight budget. Communicating with foster parents can be challenging as many do not have Internet access. Much of our correspondence is done through flyers, newsletters, publications and meetings. Using the Microsoft Office Suite we have been able to advertise fundraisers, support groups, parent resources and other events that directly benefit foster children. In addition, we have been able to create training packets that enable our foster parents to build more loving and supportive homes.

More so, Microsoft Office has been the main tool that social workers and supervisors use to manage the daily operations of our foster family agency. Everything from documenting weekly case notes to reporting special incidents is all done with either MS Word or Excel. The cost to install this program on all of our desktops would have been unbearable. However, thanks to the generous donation from Microsoft and Tech Soup all of our dedicated staff has the operating platforms they need to be successful professionals and to enhance the lives of our foster youth.

In 2007, Greater Hope Foundation was fortunate enough to receive a donation of Windows Vista software from Microsoft and Tech Soup. This product donation has been the most helpful in optimizing the delivery of our services. With improved search features social workers are able to access pertinent data faster and provide more timely responses to our children and parents. In addition, the Agency has better peace of mind knowing that confidential children’s information is protected with the improved security features of Windows Vista.

In conjunction with the added benefits of Windows Vista was the donation of Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 software. The closest city to Barstow is Victorville. But the definition of “close” in this situation is 30 miles! Having the technology to access information from a server has allowed Greater Hope to expand its services to the Victorville area, in turn helping more children and families in need. By using a server we can centralize all of our information and share it with coworkers who are many miles away.

Since 2004 Greater Hope Foundation has certified nearly 140 homes and helped almost 700 children. We pride ourselves on partnering with other organizations that have a sincere desire to improve the lives of others. Microsoft and Tech Soup have proven to be dedicated professionals that recognize their responsibility to those in need. Greater Hope commends you for your services and looks forward to more opportunities to partner together.

Submission Category
Optimize Mission Delivery
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