Internet access program at Goldsboro Housing Authority
By Steve Herring
Published in News on August 25, 2017 5:50 AM
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Krystle Anderson uses one of the computers at the computer lab at the Goldsboro Housing Authority’s West Haven housing project. The Housing Authority is among six organizations statewide selected for expansion of a federal program working to help bring low-cost, high-speed internet access to the country’s public housing residents.
The Goldsboro Housing Authority is among six organizations statewide selected for expansion of a federal program working to help bring low-cost, high-speed internet access to the country's public housing residents.
No funding is attached to the designation.
Rather it lets internet providers know that the Housing Authority is committed to a cause, said Michele Wiggins, the authority's director of grants.
It also provides access to additional resources such as stakeholder commitments and to the Digital ConnectHome Platform, which will include resources and collateral created for ConnectHome and would serve as a space for communities to connect, ask questions, and collect data.
The Goldsboro Housing Authority is part of the cohort launched Monday, which also includes Wilson.
The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development ConnectHome pilot, launched in July 2015, was created to bridge the digital divide in 28 pilot communities.
EveryoneOn is the current nonprofit lead for the program that will expand to more than 100 communities, with the goal of connecting 350,000 people living in HUD-assisted housing by 2020.
ConnectHome will be rebranded as ConnectHome Nation to reflect its new national scope.
But even before the Housing Authority applied for the program it was working to find ways to provide low-cost, high-speed internet for its 1,225 public housing units, mostly apartments. Approximately 2,500 people are housed in the units that span six properties.
The Goldsboro Housing Authority currently has four computer labs. However, they are only available during regular weekly business hours.
"There is no access for them (residents) over the weekend unless they have it at home," said Jacqueline Kannan, the authority's human resources and public relations director.
Case managers have talked to residents about low-cost internet services, Wiggins said.
Some are already using those services, she said.
"Before we had this designation we were already working on that (internet) because we believe that the research is absolutely accurate -- there is a digital divide," Wiggins said. "We need low-income residents to have access for homework or job searching.
"So the Housing Authority was already working on sort of feasible solution to finding internet for our residents. With the ConnectHome initiative you have the big players here."
The availability of low-cost, high-speed internet is an important part of the authority's mission, Kannan said.
"Yes, we are excited for people to know this is the way our agency is thinking about moving forward," she said. "We know we can't continue offer resident programming, resident services that is going to help them move out of poverty if we don't have the basics like connectivity."
ConnectHome looks at a three-prong approach -- access, digital literacy and devices, Wiggins said.
"For access these (major internet) companies have partnered with the ConnectHome initiative, and they are saying, 'OK, we are going to offer low-cost internet to public housing residents in public housing that are part of it,'" Kannan said. "Some of the companies have taken the initiative to reach out to us."
Kannan said the authority contacted AT&T which offered to provide its $10 monthly service to residents.
Currently, the housing authority is looking at which infrastructure option is best -- wired or wireless service to the units -- and the most cost effective.
Low-cost, high-speed internet was a priority before the designation, Wiggins said.
"We think that it (designation) makes us stronger and more likely that we will achieve our goals," she said. "It makes it more concrete."
EveryoneOn is a national nonprofit that creates social and economic opportunity by connecting everyone to the internet.
Since 2012, EveryoneOn has connected more than 500,000 people in the United States, with the goal of connecting one million people by 2020.
To learn more, visit http://everyoneon.org/connecthome-nation.