When her teenagers received their first computers in high school, Cindy Moeller joined them evenings and helped navigate homework assignments on the new devices. Later, working as a critical care nurse, she routinely carried a computer and entered codes and notes while working as a liaison between surgeons, hospital medical staff and patients before surgeries. 

 Then the kids grew up and left home, she retired, and she and husband Allan often struggled with newer technology. “We were left floundering,” she says. “Things are changing all the time.”  

So she registered for the fall line-up of six free computer skills training classes sponsored by Dresden Digital Equity, and grew more confident identifying frauds and scams, using Windows software and Gmail more effectively. 

The local DDE group also offers free HP Windows 11 laptops to Dresden residents who meet income guidelines and complete two mandatory internet safety classes. The refurbished laptops carry a two-year warranty, and DDE will pay the first year of the Microsoft software cost. The owner must pay annual costs thereafter. 

A new winter round of free computer skills classes begins in January. All classes are Mondays from 1 to 2 p.m. at Pownalborough Hall, and are also free to interested area residents. Topics and dates are: Beyond Gmail (Google apps) Part 1 on Jan. 5, and Part 2 on Jan. 12;  Androids Basics Part 1 on Jan. 26, Part 2 on Feb. 2, and Part on Feb. 9.  No class will be held on Jan. 19 due to the holiday. 

DDE partners with two other non-profit organizations. Human IT provides refurbished computers to other non-profits at a significant savings, and also passes the lower prices on to residents who can buy their own and choose from a wide range of devices and products from the Human IT catalogue. Cindy Moeller decided to retire her Windows 10 device, which Microsoft no longer supports with updates, and purchased a refurbished Windows 11 that will serve her into the future.

The National Digital Equity Center based in Wiscasset supplies instructor Taylor Oddleifson, digital navigator program manager. Class sizes range from eight to 23 people per session, and nearly all praise the Woolwich resident’s easy-going, patient demeanor that puts people at ease regardless of varying skills. He also meets individually with people by appointment at Bridge Academy Library to help resolve device issues.  

 Anyone who wants to inquire about a computer or attend one or more of the free courses can contact Oddleifson at charlestaylor@digitalequitycenter.org or call 207-315-9035. 

 Dresden, like other rural towns and cities throughout the country, experienced a division in recent years fueled in part by politics. Moeller credits the series of classes and Oddleifson’s demeanor with helping to heal that divide.    

 “He knows the population,” she observes. “Taylor has been really instrumental because he can bridge that gap. It’s nice to feel that we can have a community again.”