CHR finds computer for Sanibel School student
It’s only the end of July, but one Sanibel youngster can’t wait to get back to doing his homework.
Community Housing & Resources (CHR) does more than provide affordable housing for its tenants. As its name implies, it provides a wide variety of resources to deserving residents, including back-to-school supplies and help with after-school programs and field trips, summer camp scholarships and financial assistance with medical bills. They even collect food to have available, should the need arise.
So for one young pupil in need of a computer, CHR and a local computer expert came through with a big surprise last week.
Ten-year-old Ishayaat Mehraz, son of CHR resident Shahana Hussein, will be entering fifth grade at The Sanibel School this fall with his very own computer thanks to a donation from a CHR board member and some time put in by volunteer Wayne Corbett.
Corbett surprised Mehraz with the computer at the CHR offices last week, and the lucky boy started jumping up and down when he saw it.
“A computer! A computer!” he exclaimed enthusiastically.
Not caring that it was an older model and likely unable to handle the newest games, he saw the bright blue-green computer and a huge smile spread across his face.
“I love Macs!” Mehraz added.
Corbett , who owns Sanibel Computer Wizard (www.sanibel-computer-wizard.com) is also a CHR tenant. He volunteered his time to take the previous owner’s data off the computer and return it to factory standards. He also offered to teach Mehraz how to use it and will make himself available to help should the student run into any problems or have any questions.
Mehraz’s mother has been living in CHR’s below-market-rate housing for about 18 months and said several members of the CHR staff and board had taken notice of her son.
“They were impressed and thought he was a very special and nice boy,” she said.
Mehraz said he’ll be using the computer for homework and that his major school interests are math and science. Until now, he has been going to the Sanibel Public Library to do his school work. It was at the library that he wrote the essay that accompanies this article. The assignment was to write about a very special person in his life. Mehraz chose to write about his mother.
Now that he has his own computer, Mehraz will be able to spend more time with his mom, who is working seven days a week to support the family.
“I don’t get to spend as much time with Ishayaat as I’d like, but we’re very happy,” she said.