PACOIMA : Organization Gives Minorities Internet Access

As the owner of a small nonprofit youth agency, Bee Hall knows firsthand how difficult it is to locate and obtain grants.

When she got started in business two years ago, searching for grants was a time-consuming and confusing process, she says.

That was before Hall learned how to tap into Internet, a computerized information network allowing people from all walks of life to communicate by computer. The network is a bank of information for all kinds of subjects, including grants offered by government entities and private foundations.

But gaining access to this network is no small feat for many minority business people, who often lack the know-how to take advantage of computers, said Debra Santos, executive director of Pacoima-based Keeping the World at Peace Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing computer technology to poor and minority communities.

Her organization offers access to computers that carry Internet. Computer training is also provided.

“The information age is creating tremendous wealth and business activity that is bypassing the poor and minorities,” Santos said.

Hall, who runs a nonprofit youth agency called Youth For Positive Attitudes, raised $5,000 in grants using Internet. “If you can write, then this system cannot discriminate against you,” she said. “There is no visual on you, so you can join in as a partner on projects. . . . You are only judged based on your ability.”

Internet started out as a government funded military project, Santos said. Colleges and universities began dialing into the line.

“When the universities got it, you had more access to information, so that people could talk to each other nationwide,” she said.

Internet also does marketing research, which helps would-be entrepreneurs draw up business plans to help them get loans, Santos said.

“You can get the information you need to do a business plan in minutes, where it could take you months to research the data that you need to do a business plan,” she said.

“We use it ourselves for grant writing,” she said. “We brought in about $400,000 in federal, state and private grants, using Internet and other personal networking.”

Dannez Hunter of San Fernando has used Internet to help get funding for a documentary about Lewis Latimer, an African American who helped create the carbon filament used in Thomas Edison’s light bulb. Using computers provided by Keeping the World at Peace, he raised more than $5,000, which has allowed him to get the film to the second stage of production, he said.

However, Hunter added, because the film, being produced by Creative African-American Productions, is expected to cost about $2 million to finish, the organization has to continue fund raising. It will use Internet to get in touch with people who may be interested in donating to the cause, he said.

Some analysts caution, however, that Internet is not the solution for all minority entrepreneurs. Few businesses, for example, “actually do a sale or a transaction over the network,” said Mark Lottor, owner of Network Wizards in Menlo Park.

Nonprofit agencies and businesses must still use other methods to get ahead, including person-to-person contact, he said.

“And you still need to use your telephones and your fax machines,” he added.