with nothing more high-tech than conventional stoves and refrigerators, but last week, Durango’s 21-year-old Manna Soup Kitchen went online.
A $10,000 Erteszek Foundation grant financed two desktop computer stations, along with remodeling a rarely used dining room into a computer room, an office space and a counseling room where volunteer chaplains meet with clients.
“Our clients have not only started to apply online for jobs, but they’re grateful to get in touch by e-mailing their families and friends,” said Al Spungen, the Manna Soup Kitchen’s president.
Adding computers to the Manna Soup Kitchen’s services is the result of a survey Spungen conducted last year.
“I went to clients and to the various organizations that support us and asked what more Manna could do,” Spungen said.
“They all said, ‘Do something to get them out of that situation.’ The clients asked specifically for computers to apply to jobs.”
The computers, all fitted with filters that block gambling and pornographic sites, are available for 30-minute sessions between 9 and 11 a.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and afternoons by appointment.
The slots fill as fast as clients find out about the new computers, Spungen said.
“One of our clients filled out job applications the first day the computers went on,” he said.
