Connecting the digital divide

MINNEAPOLIS -- Technology is an integral part of everyday life yet there are some who still don't have access to a computer.

That's where Ken Nelson comes in. Since he started his organization, Digital Divide Initiative six years ago, he has helped hundreds of low income families connect.

"Less than 25 percent of those families have a computer in their homes," Nelson said.

His organization has donated 250 computers throughout the metro. On Monday, to honor Martin Luther King's legacy of service, recipients got a chance to get a computer lesson or have their computers cleaned up.

Mike Kingbird is in charge of fixing the hardware. He said despite living in an age of Smartphones and iPads there is still a growing number of people who have been left behind.

"They can barely work the mouse and don't know the proper typing. Barely know how to work the internet. They click on all the ads they see," Kingbird said.

Young or old Nelson said the digital divide is real among all ages. Nelson adds that when simple technology, like a computer, is introduced, it can change lives.

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