Across the Great Divide

Within a year and a half, Loeb's garage lab had maxed out at 50 computers. So he expanded his operations into a bookstore of a local church. Then, in 1996, when he outgrew that space, Break Away moved into its current home -- which, at the time, was just an empty shell. Loeb was undaunted by all the raw space. He simply recruited a network of friends and volunteers to help clean up, build walls, install wiring, and finish the building. "It was very exciting," says Berry. "We saw a vision materialize."

Since the move, the organization has developed a powerful, far-reaching mission, and a clear philosophy of community-building blended with self-reliance. For example, Break Away provides its networking service cost free, but insists on certain quid pro quos from those it helps. Each organization that accepts computers from Break Away must commit one staff person to maintain and operate the network once it is in place. In turn, Loeb offers each recipient group-discounted Internet access through Break Away's own ISP facilities. The fee for that service, around $100 a month, goes toward paying Break Away's bills.

Some of the city's biggest players also come to Break Away when they want help setting up grassroots networks. When, for instance, the influential J. Paul Getty Trust wanted to get local artists and arts organizations online, it contracted with Loeb to hold "Web raisings" for those arts groups. So far, Break Away has hosted four such events, helping some 60 arts organizations get on the Net -- and then helping them to network with one another.

And when the city of Los Angeles decided to set up a series of "Electronic Arts Academies" -- a program instituted by city-run community centers to train teens in graphic design and computer animation for work in the film industry -- Loeb won the contract to design and to install the multimedia learning labs. "We're working like crazy, trying to make a difference," says William Wilson, Break Away's director of telecommunications. "We don't want to build a mega-empire at Break Away. We just want to have an impact on the community. So we're setting up sites all over the city in low-income areas. We're connecting technology with people who've been disaffected or underserved, and we're showing them that they can do more with computers than just play games."

Loeb's current pet project is called "200 by 2000" -- a plan to install computer labs in 200 community organizations by the year 2000. This ambitious project resulted from an offer from Sony Pictures Entertainment of 1,500 PCs that Sony was getting rid of as part of a companywide upgrade. Break Away didn't need the computers, but Loeb knew that he couldn't refuse the offer: He realized that those computers could do an enormous amount of community building. So Loeb took the computers, got Microsoft to donate Windows 98 software for each computer, and came up with the idea of 200 by 2000. The project has made him a virtual apostle of technology, spreading the word to community organizations, signing up those who want to become true believers, and partnering with organizations, such as AT&T, that are looking for ways to help fund some of the projects. By the end of the summer, Loeb expects to have 120 groups networked into the resources of the Information Age. "This is a way to provide people with real opportunities," says Loeb. "Here is a chance to give people a way to feed themselves."

Although today Loeb focuses much of his energy on organizing computer communities across Los Angeles, he has not lost sight of his immediate surroundings. Loeb has made sure that, within the walls of Break Away's headquarters, communities also are being built.

There is, for example, a technology-access center -- where, for nominal fees, local residents can use computers and access the Internet. And Loeb's vision extends to the widest possible definition of the community: To make sure that the center cuts across all boundaries, he plans to set up a computer workstation for local police officers, so they can file reports and do paperwork without having to go back to the police station. The center also houses a Web-design business for teens and an Internet radio station. And the center offers a host of classes -- everything from learning how to build your own computer to learning the basics of word processing. Although each of those services is about individual growth, those services are also about building a sense of community.

Senior citizens, for example, have flocked to the"Cyber Senior Program" that Break Away hosts. During the program's first year, more than 100 seniors took the nine weeks of computer training. The goal is not just to promote computer literacy; it's to encourage community involvement. In fact, many of the Cyber Seniors have become volunteers, teaching their peers or young people what they've learned. "These seniors need to be able to give back to the community," says Fred Berry, who directs the Cyber Senior Program. "They're watching the community deteriorate, and they don't have a way of relating to young people. The bridge to understanding is technology; it's common ground for them all."