Fundraising for Rockford Public Housing Residents to Receive Internet Access

Today ConnectHome Launched A Nationwide Fundraiser To Raise 2 Million Dollars

Rockford Housing Authority, in conjunction with The City of Rockford, have been working hard to help end the digital divide and are participating with President Obama’s ConnectED Initiative, providing Internet Broadband access to Housing Authority residents in their homes.

Today ConnectHome launched a nationwide fundraiser to help subsidize the costs of these much needed devices and upfront costs of Internet service. The service will initially reach over 275,000 low-income households – and nearly 200,000 children – with the support they need to access Internet Broadband at home.

Through this fundraiser, ConnectHome seeks to raise enough funds to subsidize the cost of at least one device and up to 10 months of free service or a mobile hotspot for every family with K-12-aged children living in HUD-assisted housing across the 28 communities selected, which Rockford is included.

Today, EveryoneOn and GitHub launched a fundraiser to help #ConnectHome communities subsidize the cost of devices to households. As you know, access to these low-cost devices drives enrollment in home Internet service.

We need your support of this monumental effort. Donate TODAY. Only $25 can help 10 families. https://www.crowdrise.com/rockfordil

The goal is to raise $2 million dollars through this fundraising campaign in the next three months. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro states, “No doubt, the lives of people will be changed for the good by closing the digital divide,” he said.

The ConnectHome Team is working with The City of Rockford and Rockford Housing Authority residents, for this pilot initiative which will accelerate broadband adoption by children and families living in RHA-assisted housing in the Rockford community. The work seeks to:

1. Make broadband Internet more adoptable and provide broadband infrastructure and to offer RHA residents free or discounted service.
2. Make broadband Internet more valuable by giving RHA residents localized, free, and culturally sensitive training in essential digital literacy skills that will allow them to effectively utilize high-speed Internet.
3. Make broadband Internet adoption sustainable by providing devices and technical support to RHA residents and by helping to sustain the work of ConnectHome.

“Every child should be given the same opportunity to build a brighter future and to achieve their dreams. We believe the problem of the digital divide is 100% solvable– but it will take alignment of cross-sector partners and cataclysmic investments in these communities” states a representative of ConnectHome.

Access to Internet Broadband services at home will benefit Rockford Housing Authority residents in several ways. By decreasing the socio-economic gap in residential Internet access, school children will have the necessary access for research, writing papers and communicating digitally with their teachers and classmates. Internet Broadband access will also provide a catalyst for technical training, digital literacy programs and devices for residents in assisted housing units. “Access for job and educational opportunities has vastly increased with Internet access. Bridging the gap within our communities is essential to our families’ success,” said Ron Clewer, CEO of Rockford Housing Authority, “The strength of the Rockford Housing Authority and the City of Rockford partnership is essential to our best achieving these goals.”

About ConnectHome

The purpose of the program is to provide students in HUD-assisted housing the ability to improve their educational and economic outcomes. Specifically, the demonstration aims to make broadband more adoptable by building on existing work with private industry, PHAs, local governments, philanthropic organizations, and nonprofits, and providing the forum through which such organizations can work together to design and implement local interventions to “narrow the digital divide.”

About ConnectHome Campaign

Through this fundraiser, ConnectHome seeks to raise enough funds to subsidize the cost of at least one device and up to 10 months of free service or a mobile hotspot for every family with K-12-aged children

This is an outline of what donations from the campaign can do:

• $25 eliminates shipping costs for up to 10 families.
• $100 secures one affordable tablet or digital learning device.
• $1,000 provides devices for up to 10 families.
• $10,000 provides devices for up to 100 families.
• $50,000 provides devices for up to 500 families.

#ConnectHome and tag @GitHub and @Everyone_On

For more information, please contact Ron Clewer, Rockford Housing Authority, at RClewer@RockfordHA.org

Consider the fact that more than 90 percent of households with a college-educated parent use the internet – and fewer than 50 percent of households with less than a high-school education have internet access. And here’s what we know about students who don’t have broadband internet access at home: They perform worse on standardized tests, and have difficulty applying for and securing jobs. There are currently significant disparities in internet access.