About the Clearfork Community Institiute (CCI)

The Clearfork Community Institute (CCI) is a 501(c)(3) community development and education center located in the coalfields of East Tennessee, in the historic mining town of Clairfield. CCI was founded in 1997 by local women who sought to provide meaningful engagement for their families and the community. CCI serves residents in the Clearfork Valley, which encompasses 12 unincorporated communities in Campbell and Claiborne Counties in Tennessee, and Bell and Whitley Counties in Kentucky. 

Limited access to high-speed internet leaves many unreachable, jobless, and homeless. There is only one cable provider and two satellite providers in Clairfield. Spectrum provides service to 68.10% coverage in Clairfield and Hughes Net and Viasat provides 100% coverage but is unreliable and unaffordable.  CCI provides the only public space in the community with the ability to provide the community access to the internet. The Cyber Cafe is open Tuesdays and Thursdays 9am to 9pm. This provides the community access to the internet and computers to be able to do  research, homework, connect to family and friends, look for jobs, take online classes, etc.

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CCI Director Marie Webster's vision:

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This will be the only spot available to the community for internet access if they don't have it at home. This will be a place for kids to come and do their homework, for all-age students to do online classes, for residents to use online tools like ancestry.com, for community members to learn and teach each other basic computing, for our community to join the world via the internet.

 

Via the CCI cyber cafe we can provide teens with activities, families can communicate with other family members not living close by, and residents can use online employment, health, and education tools. This will be a place where people can come together for coffee and sandwiches face to face. There is no other place nearby for people to meet and sit down to talk one on one. 

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SCCP’s role in the Cyber Cafe

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SCCP staff the Cyber Cafe 

SCCP, CCI, and other partners will coordinate workshops with residents.