There are opportunities out there for free computer office technology classes if you’re talking about applications such as MS Word; Excel; Powerpoint and/or QuickBooks. 

Check your local Economic Opportunity Commission or other nonprofit agencies near you. Many community centers are now offering free computer office training as are libraries for nominal fees. 

ExecuTrain, a corporate entity (www.executrain.com) offers two free courses for laid off workers. They have locations in many states, including New York. 

Do not overlook your local One Stop Career Center in conjuction with the labor dept. for totally free computer office applications training! Find yours in your residency at www.servicelocator.org or www.careeronestop.org and tap in your zip code. Free, total or partial training grants or vouchers are sometimes available w/residency required and time spent to register at the One Stop for computer office training at the contracted vocational schools. These monies vary from center to center under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) according to each individual center’s needs, as they are each independent of the other. Funding to send you to vocational training comes and goes, but some of these centers may also have free inhouse short-term classes for computer training that would do the trick. 

To supplement whatever free courses you may receive, try the free online tutorial w/teacher on its message board by The Goodwill Industries umbrella human service organization at www.gcflearnfree.org. Click on “Computer Training.” You need to participate in the virtual “class” on a computer that has MS WORD 2007. Go to your library if you don’t have it installed at home. 

YouTube also has free instruction videos in many computer applications, including graphic arts. Lynda.com also offers some free computer graphics instruction. 

In general, on another note, for those of you interested in other sources for grants and funding for college degrees, look atwww.fafsa.ed.gov to see if you qualify for the PELL grants for college degree programs or go to the financial aid office at the college of your choice or visit with the reference librarian of your local public library for direction to resources. You can also write to the college president and ask for a scholarship for you or your child. Sometimes it works! Also, if you are a veteran or spouse of military veteran,(veterans see www.va.gov) child of a deceased law enforcement officer, in a union or child of union member, these categories often offer scholarships people aren’t even aware of but it is good to know options. 

As with any grant monies, try to choose courses that are totally covered by said grant. It’s tough to pay back loans during periods of unemployment and place unnecessary financial burden upon yourself—unless you have a definite job waiting in the wings! Best of luck.