Neighborhood Networks in a Class of Its Own: The Center Classification Process Explained

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Description:

Center staff might not know it, but their center may have already fulfilled the requirements to attain Certified Classification or Model Classification status. Participants find out during this session that provides an overview of the Center Classification process and highlights the benefits and incentives for reaching each level. Also, discussed during this session, is how Center Classification impacts center sustainability and how Neighborhood Networks centers which have achieved advanced levels are using their new status to achieve greater results.

Presenters:

Heather Bischoff
Senior Service Coordinator/Center Director
National Church Residences
Phone: (317) 807-0400

Steven McLaine
Project Manager
Neighborhood Networks
Phone: (301) 495-4337

Heather Bischoff is the senior service coordinator for Green Park Terrace, a National Church Residences community located in southern Indianapolis. A national nonprofit organization, National Church Residences is dedicated to providing quality affordable housing to older adults. Ms. Bischoff assisted in the establishment of Green Park Terrace’s Neighborhood Networks center, The Knowledge Center @ the Terrace, which hosts Generations on Line among many other activities and programs for older adults. Ms. Bischoff is on the planning committee for the Indianapolis Salutes Older Americans event, now in its sixth year. She is the chair and event coordinator for the Marion County TRIAD, an organization that brings together older adults, law enforcement, and service providers. Ms. Bischoff has been instrumental in the development of the highly acclaimed Project Lifesaver, a program designed to safeguard individuals with conditions that cause them to wander away from caregivers. While Ms. Bischoff enjoys her work with older adults, her passion is working with youth. She spends several hours each week mentoring teens, and is currently enrolled at Rod and Staff Ministries where she will soon be a certified Biblical counselor. Ms. Bischoff also serves on the board of Directors for Area Youth Ministry, an intercity youth ministry in Indianapolis, Indiana. Ms. Bischoff often combines her interest in working with youth and older adults to provide intergenerational programming that encourages communication between generations to impact the community as a whole.

Steve McLaine has more than 11 years of experience in community technology centers, online communities, nonprofit technology, technology policy, and low-income communities. As Neighborhood Networks project manager, he oversees communications, program development, special projects, and the Neighborhood Networks Web site for the Initiative. Previously, Mr. McLaine served as the assistant director of Young Scholars' Institute, a nonprofit learning center that provided educational, cultural, and recreational activities to inner-city public school students. Mr. McLaine earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Virginia, and a master's degree in public policy from Georgetown University. His master's practicum, "Minority and Low Income User Satisfaction at Community Technology Centers," is currently posted on the CTCNet Web site, and his work on ethnic online communities was featured in Cyberactivism: Online Activism in Theory and Practice, which was published by Routledge in 2003.

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