Peoples Church of Chicago · May 2025–April 2026

The Laptop Ministry refurbishes donated computers — primarily using open-source Linux — and places them free of charge with Chicago-area individuals who cannot afford technology access. The program is operated by one person out of a small church office.

Year at a Glance

Needs Served

Education and employment account for 51% of all requests. Recovery programs, disability access, housing insecurity, and justice reintegration make up most of the remainder.

Inventory & Equipment

Of 64 tracked items valued at $7,885, only 4 were discarded (6.2%) — the remainder were repaired, deployed, or held in stock. One primary donor contributed 48% of total tracked value; a church member donation of two MacBook Airs represented another 10%. 63% of deployed devices run Linux, extending hardware life by years and eliminating software licensing costs for recipients.

Repair and utilization rate: 93%+ — hardware that most would discard is instead restored to serve real needs.

Service Delivery

Note: 14 priority cases remain unserved, some waiting over 24 months — a direct result of limited hardware supply.

Year-Over-Year Trend

Priorities for 2026–2027

1. Sourcing — Pursue corporate IT surplus partnerships (law firms, schools, hospitals) and Chicago municipal surplus programs to reduce dependency on individual donors.
2. Volunteers — Recruit 2–4 part-time volunteers for refurbishment, intake, and recipient coordination through the congregation, Linux user groups, and local colleges.
3. Waitlist — Clear the 14 priority cases; review and archive inactive entries exceeding 6 months without contact.

Data current as of April 4, 2026. No personally identifying information is included. Prepared by the Laptop Ministry, Peoples Church of Chicago.

Peoples Church of Chicago

April 2026

Synopsis

The Laptop Ministry of Peoples Church of Chicago is a single-operator volunteer program dedicated to bridging the digital divide in Chicago by refurbishing donated computers and placing them with individuals who cannot afford technology access. Operating from a small church office since the summer of 2023, the ministry has served 82 individuals and organizations across 32 months — deploying refurbished laptops, desktops, tablets, and conversion services to people facing poverty, homelessness, incarceration recovery, substance abuse recovery, disability, and educational barriers.

This report covers cumulative program activity from August 2023 through April 2026, with detailed comparison against the most recent twelve-month period of April 2025 through April 2026. It reflects data drawn from the program's waitlist, service records, and inventory system, and presents an honest assessment of both accomplishments and areas requiring growth — particularly in equipment acquisition and volunteer capacity.

The ministry's signature approach — installing open-source Linux operating systems on aging hardware — allows machines that would otherwise be discarded to serve real community needs, extending device life by years and saving recipients the cost of commercial software licenses. This model is both environmentally responsible and financially sustainable on a near-zero operating budget.

Table of Contents

1. Program Overview
2. At-a-Glance Metrics
3. Year-Over-Year Comparison
4. Recipients Served — Needs Analysis
5. Inventory, Equipment & Donations
6. Waste, Disposal & Repair Rates
7. Waitlist Status
8. Service Delivery Metrics
9. Areas for Improvement
10. Interpretive Conclusion

1. Program Overview

The program operates on a request-and-waitlist model. Community members learn of the ministry through Facebook groups, word of mouth, church membership, referrals from partner organizations (Salvation Army, Haymarket, Mission USA, Grace House), and since 2025, a public website sign-up form. Each request is assessed for urgency, need, and available inventory. Devices are refurbished with Linux to maximize usability on older hardware before being distributed.

2. At-a-Glance Metrics

All-Time Totals (August 2023 – April 2026)

Last Twelve Months (April 2025 – April 2026)

3. Year-Over-Year Comparison

Requests Received by Year

Note on 2024: The steep drop in service delivery in 2024 (7 served vs. 32 in 2023) reflects a documented challenge in acquiring donated laptops, which is a recurring constraint for a one-person program with no dedicated sourcing infrastructure. This gap is addressed in the Areas for Improvement section.

Last Year vs. Full Program Lifespan

The last twelve months represent the most active and well-documented period in the ministry's history. The introduction of a formal inventory tracking system in May 2025 enabled more accurate reporting, though it also means prior years (especially 2023–2024) are likely under-represented in inventory records.

4. Recipients Served — Needs Analysis

Community Need Categories (All Requests, 2023–2026)

The following table reflects stated needs at the time of request. Many individuals cited multiple intersecting needs; the primary or most prominent was used for categorization.

Key Observations

• Education and employment together account for over half (51%) of all requests. This reflects a community where technology access is not a luxury but a prerequisite for economic mobility.
• Recovery program participants represent a consistent and urgent sub-population. CADC certification, Grace House residents, and Haymarket clients need laptops to complete coursework that can transform their lives. These cases frequently come with a time-sensitive deadline.
• Housing-insecure individuals present the greatest operational challenge — they are often hardest to reach for follow-up and pickup coordination, yet have the greatest need.
• Multiple recipients are repeat service cases, returning for device upgrades, replacement of failed hardware, or Linux conversion of a device they already own. This "repair and refresh" role is a growing part of the ministry's identity.

Geographic and Referral Reach

Recipients have come through a diverse network of channels reflecting both church community and broader Chicago outreach:

5. Inventory, Equipment & Donations

Inventory Overview (Formally Tracked: May 2025 – April 2026)

The ministry began formal inventory tracking in May 2025. Prior to this, the program operated with informal records. The 64 items below represent the currently tracked inventory pool.

Device Status at Time of Reporting

Totals may exceed 100% due to partial overlap between repair and deployment-ready categories.

Major Donations Received (May 2025–April 2026)

A single private donor ("Dave") contributed 48% of total tracked donation value — a meaningful dependency that represents both a strength and a risk discussed in Section 9.

Device Brands Deployed (All Time)

Operating Systems Deployed

The ministry's commitment to open-source Linux is central to its mission — enabling older hardware to run modern, secure software at no cost to recipients.

Linux-based deployments account for approximately 63% of all tracked serves, with macOS accounting for 5% (where hardware is newer and the recipient benefits from native OS). Windows is used only in special-purpose cases (e.g., legacy software compatibility, hobbyist use).

6. Waste, Disposal & Repair Rates

Discarded / Recycled Devices

Of 64 tracked inventory items, 4 (6.2% by count, 2.3% by value) were designated for discard or parts-only use:

Key Takeaway: The discard rate is remarkably low. The ministry's approach of triaging aging hardware — retaining salvageable components (hard drives, memory, batteries, power supplies) for use in other devices — maximizes every donated item. Discarded chassis typically yield useful parts before recycling.

Repair Activity

Of 64 tracked items, 7 (10.9%) are currently in active repair or assessment:

Waste vs. Repair Summary

The ministry achieves a repair and deployment rate exceeding 93% of donated items. This is an exceptional figure for a single-operator program without a dedicated workshop or tool budget.

7. Waitlist Status

Current Queue (As of April 4, 2026)

Wait Time Analysis (Served Recipients)

For the 75 served recipients with documentable request and pickup dates:

40% of recipients were served within two weeks of their request — a remarkable turnaround for a volunteer program. However, the 9% who waited over a year and the 14 current priority cases waiting as long as 26 months reveal the supply-side bottleneck that constrains the program's impact.

Longest-Waiting Active Cases (as of April 2026)

Some individuals on the waitlist have been waiting for equipment for extended periods, including individuals connected to Haymarket services, Salvation Army residents, school students, and individuals with prison ministry connections. Several cases have been waiting 18–26 months. These cases represent the most urgent unmet need in the program.

8. Service Delivery Metrics

Monthly Service Rate

Service Type Breakdown — Last Year (Apr 2025–Apr 2026)

The growth of refurbishment-as-a-service (converting a recipient's own Windows device to Linux) is a notable emerging trend. This model requires no donated hardware and serves individuals who already have a device but cannot afford or navigate commercial OS replacement — extending device life at minimal cost to the ministry.

9. Areas for Improvement

9.1 Laptop Acquisition & Sourcing

This is the ministry's most critical constraint. The 2024 data (7 serves in 12 months vs. 32 in the prior 5 months) demonstrates how dramatically supply shortages throttle impact. Currently, the program relies heavily on:

• A small number of private donors (one donor provided 48% of tracked donations)
• Spontaneous community drop-offs
• Church member contributions

Recommended improvements:

9.2 Establishing a Small Volunteer Program

The ministry is currently operated by a single individual. This creates bottlenecks in every dimension: refurbishment time, recipient follow-up, donor coordination, and inventory management. Even 2–4 part-time volunteers would dramatically increase capacity.

Proposed volunteer roles:

Suggested recruitment channels:

• Peoples Church congregation
• Chicago-area Linux user groups (ChiLUG and similar)
• Computer science programs at local community colleges (volunteer credit)
• AmeriCorps and service-year programs
• Retired IT professionals through senior centers and LinkedIn

9.3 Inventory and Tracking Enhancements

The formal inventory system, launched in May 2025, is a significant improvement. Recommended next steps:

• Backfill pre-2025 records with best estimates to complete the historical picture
• Track device age and hardware specifications to better match recipients to appropriate hardware
• Photograph all incoming devices for documentation
• Create a simple intake checklist to standardize the condition assessment of donated equipment
• Track outcomes — follow up with recipients 3–6 months post-delivery to document impact

9.4 Waitlist Management

• 14 priority cases remain unserved, some for over 2 years. A quarterly prioritization review should assess which cases are still active and actionable.
• Recipients who have not responded to contact attempts in 6+ months should be moved to inactive status to keep the waitlist accurate.
• The public website form (launched 2025) is producing a higher-than-average volume of requests — including many with detailed, compelling needs. A lightweight triage system would help manage this effectively.

9.5 Tax Status and Formal Donor Infrastructure

• Many donors have received tax acknowledgment letters (noted in inventory). Formalizing a donation receipt workflow and ensuring the ministry is documented as a recognized program of Peoples Church would strengthen donor relationships and enable larger institutional giving.
• Consider applying for a small technology equity grant through organizations such as the Chicago Community Trust, Motorola Solutions Foundation, or Microsoft Philanthropies.

10. Interpretive Conclusion

On the Success of the Program

What this data describes is quietly extraordinary.

In approximately 32 months, working out of a small office in a single Chicago church — with no dedicated budget, no staff, and persistent difficulty acquiring hardware — the Laptop Ministry has placed functioning computers in the hands of 82 people and organizations whose lives were tangibly changed by receiving them. A recovering addict completing CADC certification. A newly housed mother accessing online job applications. An elder receiving their very first computer. A refugee pursuing a master's degree. Someone recently released from incarceration learning how the world works through a browser.

These are not statistics. They are people for whom a refurbished laptop was a door.

The ministry's 93%+ utilization rate on donated hardware — achieving this through Linux refurbishment rather than disposal — reflects both technical competence and ethical commitment. The ministry does not waste. It finds the use in things that others have discarded.

The surge in 2025 (32 served, matching the launch year's momentum despite a difficult 2024) and the breadth of the 2025–2026 inventory record suggest that the program has entered a more mature, sustainable phase. The addition of a formal website intake form, structured inventory management, and multi-channel outreach shows organizational growth that is impressive for a one-person operation.

On the Potential of the Program

The data also reveals real constraints that, if addressed, could multiply the ministry's impact several times over.

The 51-person active waitlist — including 14 priority cases, some waiting over two years — represents unmet need that already exists and has been expressed. These are not hypothetical recipients. They are real people who raised their hands and are still waiting. The gap between them and a refurbished laptop is almost entirely one of supply: not enough donated machines coming in, not enough hands to refurbish them.

A modest investment in two things — a more systematic laptop acquisition pipeline, and even two or three trained volunteers — could realistically double the program's annual service rate. The model is proven. The demand is documented. The community trust has been established. The infrastructure, though modest, exists and works.

The Laptop Ministry of Peoples Church of Chicago is a program that has already demonstrated it can change lives with almost nothing. The question for 2026 and beyond is whether it can build just enough infrastructure — sourcing relationships, volunteer capacity, and formal documentation — to match its reach to its demonstrated purpose.

The potential is significant. The foundation is real.

Report compiled April 2026. Data sourced from ministry waitlist, service records, and inventory system. All recipient information has been treated with strict privacy; this report contains no personally identifying information. All statistics are derived from program records current through April 4, 2026.

Prepared by the Laptop Ministry, Peoples Church of Chicago.