Neighborhood Networks Week 2005 Highlighted By 400 Plus Local, National Events

Washington, D.C. -- More than 400 local and national events held during Neighborhood Networks Week 2005, August 1-6, showcased how Neighborhood Networks centers are delivering technology access to America's communities.

Russell Simmons, the entrepreneur and social philanthropist who founded Def Jam Records, Phat Farm, and UniRush Financial Services, participated in an August 3rd Neighborhood Networks Week conference call on Financial Empowerment.

The conference call was one of several national events that highlighted the Fifth Annual Neighborhood Networks Week, Invite the Neighborhood. Widen the Network. Call participants learned about the importance of financial planning and a new financial literacy training program that will be conducted at Neighborhood Networks centers.

Supported by UniRush Financial Services, the pilot program will be launched initially at five Neighborhood Networks centers in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C., and will teach residents of HUD-insured and
-assisted housing how to better understand and improve their credit scores, set financial goals, create simple budgets, and manage money online. The program may later include additional states and/or territories, including California, Florida, Massachusetts, Ohio, Texas, Washington, and Puerto Rico.

New National Consortium Introduced

Neighborhood Networks Week 2005 began August 1st with an introduction of the newly formed Neighborhood Networks National Consortium. Kidz Online hosted a live Web cast of the opening ceremony.

Neighborhood Networks Director Delores Pruden and Jessica Venegas, community empowerment manager at the Community Preservation and Development Corporation in Washington, D.C. and vice president of the Neighborhood Networks National Consortium, led the discussion. The winners of the first Neighborhood Networks Essay Contest were announced during the Web cast.

	August 2nd - the Women's National Basketball Association hosted a live Web chat with DeLisha Milton-Jones of the Washington Mystics.
	August 3rd - the National Partnership for Immunization hosted a conference call for Neighborhood Networks centers to discuss the importance of immunization awareness and provided suggestions on how to promote immunization awareness among residents.
	August 4th - Neighborhood Networks centers viewed a Web cast with video clips of students from the Northpointe Apartments Neighborhood Networks Center in Long Beach, California. The students recently participated in Imagine Mars, a national art, science, and technology education initiative created by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The students and JPL representatives also appeared during the Web cast to discuss the project and answer questions. A live Web chat with NASA/JPL followed the video clips.
	August 5th - a conference call with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) highlighted the online workforce development tools that have been customized specifically for Neighborhood Networks centers. DOL staff also discussed the many workforce development resources provided by One-Stop Career Centers across the country.

Locally sponsored Neighborhood Networks center events included community outreach days, open houses, career days, health fairs, carnivals, and grand openings.