Coney Island community center gets 30 new tablets thanks to community groups

CONEY ISLAND, Brooklyn (PIX11) — A community center in Brooklyn is getting a donation thanks to community groups that will help hundreds of children and seniors bridge the digital divide. 

Inside the Carey Gardens Cornerstone Community Center, every day after school is filled with dozens of children who live in the NYCHA development. Now they have 30 new tablets to work with.

7-year-old Ky’Len Peay helped open up a new tablet, opening up a whole new digital world of learning. 

It’s all thanks to NIA Community Services Network, a nonprofit started in 1981 that provides critical afterschool programs to thousands of children across NYC. 

Leonard Campbell is NIA’s program director. He says their computer lab had 11 computers before getting the 30 new tablets. It’s a game-changer.  

He showed us how these new tablets mean access and opportunity on the go for his students. Julia Daniely says this free computer space is greater for older New Yorkers too. She wants to learn from the kids.

It’s a new place that brings the community together. 

The program is possible thanks to an organization called the Coney, a group hoping to bring entertainment development to the neighborhood. Their mission is simple: to help low-income families have access because connection is power.

The group is planning more distributions to come. If you have a community champion you want to highlight or need help reach out to Monica Morales at Monica@pix11.com