Housing Authority Bridges Digital Divide

Over 100 public-housing tenants are receiving two years of free internet service and free tablets in return for a promise — to attend classes on how to use them to improve their lives.

That transaction unfolded Wednesday evening at an event at the Cornell Scott Hill Health Center outpost in West Rock at 122 Wilmot Rd.

Over 120 residents of public-housing developments showed up to register for the program, under which T‑Mobile is providing the tablets and the housing authority is providing two years of free service. The residents committed to attending digital literacy training and financial counseling and budget and credit counseling sessions in return. Residents can also apply to become ​“digital ambassadors” who receive training to assist in the educational learning for other residents in their program classes.

The Housing Authority of New Haven (HANH, aka Elm City Communities) organized the initiative as part of a federal program called ConnectHome Nation. The U.S. Department of Housing of Urban Development (HUD) put together the program in an effort to bridge the digital divide in public housing.

“Our way of getting information, our way of sharing information has increasingly become through the internet,” HANH President Karen DuBois-Walton told the crowd Wednesday evening. She said young residents have been a key focus of her agency’s digital inclusion efforts: ​“We want to make sure they have everything they need to succeed in school.”

DuBois-Walton noted that under the program HANH is getting money to cover costs of training, transportation and materials.

Latoya McCrea (pictured), HANH’s director of community and economic development, said the program has been in the works for over a year. She outlined some of the programs for the tenants, including formation of a senior technology club in which older residents will receive consultation on how to get online, set up an email account, pay rent and contact their children through their tablets and phones. HANH Teacher-in-Residence Shanquetta Johnson will incorporate the tablets and teaching in an after-school program she runs, guiding students on how to keep up with homework online.

Patricia Rodriguez (pictured), who has been a tenant at Crawford Manor for the past five years, said this initiative will be particularly beneficial for senior residents.

Residents who do not know how to pay rent online have an increased likelihood of becoming victims of robbery when they handle their rent money in stores, Rodriguez said. ​“Seniors are easily preyed on. They’re fumbling through their bags, bringing their purse out. So I think this technology is great for seniors.”

As president of the Tenants Residents Council (TRC) at Crawford Manor, Rodriguez passed out brochures and flyers to urge her neighbors to attend Wednesday night’s kick-off session.

“We are getting free transportation to bring them there and home — they looked at every aspect of what would make a person not be able to come and they got it all covered,” Rodriguez said. ​“I really appreciate that.”