This month Comcast and several local organizations launched an Internet Essentials Learning Zone, offering low-income families in Springfield Internet service at a reduced cost of $10 a month. By using this service, families will also be able to purchase a laptop for $150 from Computer Banc., a Springfield nonprofit. Through partners like the Boys & Girls Club of Central Illinois, Faith Coalition for the Common Good, Nehemiah Expansion, Inc. and Springfield School District 186, parents and students now have Internet access and digital literacy training available to them while attending a partnering center. For a family in Springfield to be eligible, at least one child has to be enrolled in the national school lunch program regardless of the type of school. In Springfield, about 67 percent of the students in the district qualify for the program, according to the Illinois State Board of Education. “We’re getting together nonprofit community organizations, as well as faith-based organizations, other entities and school districts to form a partnership to help bridge the digital divide,” says Debra Piscola, Comcast senior director government and external affairs relations. For more information, visit internetessentials.com.
This article appears in Jan 28 – Feb 3, 2016.
