Doe Fund receives $50,000 from Sterling National Bank for computer literacy program

Bronx, NY The Doe Fund received a $50,000 donation from Sterling National Bank, which will go to supporting the nonprofit’s computer skills classes. These provide basic computer literacy training to people who have experienced homelessness and incarceration.

The classes are part of the organization’s larger Ready, Willing & Able reentry program, which provides paid work, career training, housing, and comprehensive supportive services. Learning computer skills is essential to addressing the stark digital divide that often bars marginalized populations from gainful employment—especially as job applications, interviews, and work itself has shifted online during the pandemic.

The donation will also provide upgrades to the organization’s digital infrastructure, including new desktops and laptops in computer labs, tablets for trainees in its Culinary Arts career track and Community Improvement Project, GPSes for drivers in its Transportation career track, and a new digital infrastructure for security staff.

“Sterling National Bank has been the ideal partner. Their support ensures at this incredibly timely moment that the people we serve are successful in the post-pandemic workforce, and can build brighter futures for themselves and their children. Work works, and Sterling National Bank understands that,” said The Doe Fund president Harriet Karr-McDonald.

Ready, Willing & Able participants begin the program by working on cleaning crews across 115 miles of NYC streets daily before transitioning to career training tracks. Ready, Willing & Able participants also receive housing, adult education, and comprehensive social services.

The announcement was made at The Doe Fund’s soon-to-be-completed Joseph A. Muller Residence, for which Sterling National Bank was a significant funder. Located at the site of a former Army Reserve center that built gyroscopes for torpedoes and missiles, the Muller Residence will provide 90 units of affordable and supportive housing, with 54 reserved specifically for veterans. The residence will include amenities including a laundry room, an exercise room, facilities for supportive services, and community spaces.