Bill Morin’s vision included providing opportunities to young adults facing economic challenges like those he overcame as a child of Hartford’s housing projects in the 1960s and 1970s.
A field service analyst with the IT Department at Hartford HealthCare, where he started as a cook more than 30 years ago, Morin helped launch Digital DividENDS, a partnership between the system, Our Piece of the Pie, Hartford Youth Service Corps and the city to teach computer skills to young adults.
In addition to learning the ins and outs of computers, students work on 150 decommissioned laptops donated by HHC to become certified in PC repair. The laptops they refurbish are donated to those in need, including first-generation college students and the elderly. The youth have opportunities for summer internships at HHC, too.
“Programs that take a kid into a different area may open their eyes to new and different things,” says Morin of his hopes to expand participants’ understanding of potential career opportunities.