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Thursday, October 29, 2015

San Antonio Housing Authority to Launch ConnectHome Initiative

Posted By Rohit Chandan on Thu, Oct 29, 2015 at 2:29 PM

With one in four San Antonio families lacking basic Internet access in their homes, the San Antonio Housing Authority hopes the Department of Housing and Urban Development's collaborative ConnectHome Initiative can start to close the digital gap.

“This is an issue that directly impacts our clients and the community that we strive to serve daily. To this end, we realized that San Antonio Housing Authority can play a leading role in closing the digital gap in our community,” Morris Stribling, chairman of the SAHA Board of Managers, said in a press release. “By convening different community partners in a collaborative effort called ConnectHome, with representatives from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, we can achieve the goal of moving San Antonio into the 21st century by providing digital inclusion to our community.”

The program is initiated by White House with the goal to "offer broadband access, technical training, digital literacy programs, and devices for residents in assisted housing units."

The program will bring local organizations and civic and business leaders in San Antonio together to work toward expanding broadband access.

“Through a well-paced and strategically phased approach, with participation from a range of community partners, the ConnectHome Initiative will be able to ensure a coordinated and sustained change in the digital landscape of San Antonio,” David Nisivoccia, interim president and CEO at SAHA, says.

ConnectHome's aim is to:

Make broadband Internet more adoptable by building new models to provide broadband infrastructure and to offer residents free or discounted service.

Make broadband Internet more valuable by giving residents localized, free, and culturally sensitive training in essential digital literacy skills that will allow them to effectively utilize high-speed Internet.

Make broadband Internet adoption sustainable by providing devices and technical support to our residents and by refocusing existing HUD resources to supplement and sustain the work of ConnectHome.

The ConnectHome Initiative's inaugural meeting is Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. at SAHA, located at 818 South Flores.

Tags: ConnectHome, Broadband, Internet, San Antonio, HUD, Digital Divide, Image