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HCN's Handy Techs Named Volunteers of the Week

09/10/2007 - "Our focus is on finding people's abilities, not their disabilities," said Barbara Davis, founder of HandyCapable Network, which recruits individuals with disabilities to refurbish computers.

Since the nonprofit Microsoft-authorized refurbisher opened its doors in 2001, more than 1,000 computers have been donated and nearly 600 redistributed into the community through other nonprofit agencies and public schools.

The name of the organization reflects Davis' emphasis on the positive. Spokesman Sean Mealin, a junior at Northwest High School, doesn't let a disability stand in his way. "I've been legally blind all my life, although in the eighth grade, I started losing a lot more of my sight." He lost the ability to play video games and watch movies, "so I got into computers instead."

Last year, Mealin became a HandyTech. "I thought, what a great idea volunteer to do something I already loved doing," he said. Mealin has done everything from rebuilding computers from scratch to installing software.

Why they do it: The computers that the seven HandyTechs refurbish are donated to individuals with disabilities, which makes the HandyTechs proud.

"One of my most enjoyable experiences is when I got a computer ready for a woman who happened to be blind. I called her the next day or so to help her with some accessibility technology," Mealin said.

Some of the HandyTechs, such as Carl Haislip, are self- proclaimed computer geeks. Others, such as Bo Boyd, didn't know anything about computers until HandyCapable. "I like putting myself to good use. I like the people here and the environment," Haislip said.

What they do: "We're keeping older computers out of the landfills, but rather than recycling them into pieces and parts, we're refurbishing them and getting them back into the community to people who otherwise couldn't afford a computer," Davis said.

Want to know more about volunteering? Contact the Volunteer Center of Greensboro, 1500 Yanceyville St., Greensboro, NC 27405, or call 373-0670, or visit www.volunteergso.org.