In light of recent events and out of concern for the health of our volunteers and community, we have decided that Free I.T. Athens will remain closed to the general public, both clients and volunteers, until further notice. This means there will be no “open hours” for shopping, donating, volunteering, orientation, or receiving tech support.
However, we understand how stressful and expensive it can be to suddenly move class and office work to the home. Therefore, we invite community members who are in need of desktop computers, monitors, keyboards, and/or mice to make an appointment to purchase this equipment. We are not currently offering laptops.
If you are in need of a desktop, please request an order by describing the items you need, either by…
- email to contact@freeitathens.org, or
- phone message to 706-621-6157.
A Free I.T. Athens staff member will respond letting you know if your request is in stock and if so, coordinate a time for pick up.
To be clear, this is not an appointment to browse our shelves, but an appointment to pick up and pay for an order placed ahead of time. Think of it as Free I.T. Athens to-go. :)
Out of safety concerns we will only be accepting card payment.
Unfortunately, we are currently unable to provide tech support, but we may be able to help answer some questions via email or phone.
Because this is such an unusual time, all the equipment sold will have a return for store credit policy that will extend to 30 days after we’re once again open for regular hours and a similar warranty that extends 90 days after our re-opening.
If you cannot afford a needed computer, we are relaxing our grant criteria to temporarily include individuals. If you have the necessary equipment, please digitally fill out our new Individual Grant Request form online or download , fill out and email it back If you are unable to fill out this form digitally, please email or call so we can make accommodations. We’re still working on how to safely distribute needed equipment, so please be patient as we figure out what works best.
We hope that you will share this resource with friends and family members. Do keep in mind when sharing this with those unfamiliar with our work that all Free I.T. Athens computers come with the Linux operating system. Let people know that we cannot provide the Windows or Mac operating system but are more than happy to help you decide if Linux meets your needs. The good news is that over the 15 years of operating in Athens, we’ve found that most people don’t need a proprietary operating system for school or work.
Stay safe everyone,
The Free I.T. Athens Staff