"I had my first interview last week and another coming up," said Avery, a former Air Force weather forecaster, as she waited for lunch. "I'm also looking at further schooling. I'd like to be a chiropractor."

Avery is one of several soup kitchen clients who have taken advantage of the computers since they went online the middle of last week, said Manna Soup Kitchen President Al Spungen.

"There's a big demand," Spungen said in an interview Monday. "I did a survey about six months ago and that (computer access) was one of the main things mentioned. This way, they're not cut off from the world."

A $10,000 grant from the Erteszek Foundation paid for two Dell computer stations as well as remodeling to create a room to house the computers, an office for soup kitchen manager Agnes Mangual, and space to afford privacy for the center's volunteer chaplains. The additions cover a total of 264 square feet.

Users of the soup kitchen, which provides 36,000 meals a year - about one-third each for the day's meals - come from the ranks of the homeless, working poor, elderly and the mentally and physically disabled, Spungen said.

Avery typifies many of the down-on-their-luck clients who rely on the soup kitchen. She has a brother and sister-in-law in Durango, but she can't stay with them for lack of room. So she spends nights at the Volunteers of America shelter and looks for work during the day. She also wants to rejoin her husband, Marc, who is stationed in the Air Force in Spokane, Wash., and five children ages 14 months to 14 years.

The soup kitchen computers provide word processing, a calculator, music and Internet access. But filters block links to pornography and gambling sites, Spungen said. Mangual's office, from which the computer room can be observed through a window, houses the computer towers and printer.

Use of a computer is free, but printing costs 5 cents a page. Clients may use a computer for 30 minutes unless there is a waiting list. The computers are available from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Monday through Friday and in the afternoon by arrangement.

So far, the clients using the computers are technology-savvy, Spungen said.

"But we're working with the Southwest Colorado Workforce to see if we can get classes for those who need help," Spungen said.

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