Harrisburg – Comcast focuses on increasing broadband adoption in Pennsylvania through Lift Zones, which provide free Wi-Fi in select recreation centers, community centers, senior centers and computer labs social housing. The company donates a total of $ 100,000 in grants to four lift zones in community youth organizations.
These grants are intended to benefit low-income students and families in transitional housing in Harrisburg, Scranton, State College and Pittsburgh, according to a press release from Comcast. The company is also celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Internet Essentials program, the nation’s largest and most comprehensive broadband adoption effort for low-income households.
Shalom House in Harrisburg, the NEPA Youth Shelter in Scranton, the Center County Youth Services Bureau at State College, and HEARTH in Glenshaw are four of Comcast’s Lift Zone locations and will each receive a $ 25,000 grant to purchase computer equipment, bring in supplies. site improvements, host workshops quarry and fund staff training.
Beyond financial grants, the company is offering hundreds of hours of free digital skills training to residents, enabling more students, seniors, veterans and others to learn to connect. online for distance learning, job search, telehealth services, etc.
Shalom House, one of four recipients of a $ 25,000 grant, operates a 28-day emergency shelter that provides temporary and safe housing to homeless women and children in the Harrisburg area.
“The Comcast Lift Zone located in our shelter provided customers with access to WiFi for basic needs such as finding housing and employment, online rental inquiries and distance schoolwork,” said Kyla Harvey. , Executive Director of Shalom House. “This Lift Zone Opportunity grant will support our existing efforts to provide personalized, client-centered support to all clients entering Shalom Emergency Shelter.”
The Scranton NEPA Youth Shelter operates an after-school drop-in center for high school students from all walks of life, including LGBTQ + people who make up a high percentage of homeless youth in Lackawanna County.
“Our Comcast Lift Zone provided low-income, at-risk teens with access to computers and Wi-Fi for homework,” said Maureen Maher-Gray, Executive Director of NEPA Youth Shelter. “The $ 25,000 Comcast Lift Zone Opportunity grant will fund upgrades to technological equipment and a data backup system that will help us maintain digital access and reliability for our customers. “
The Stormbreak Girls Group Home at the Center County Youth Service Bureau is a 24-hour community group home serving youth across Pennsylvania.
“We are very grateful for the continued partnership we have with Comcast,” said Christine Bishop, Executive Director of the Center County Youth Services Bureau. “The Stormbreak Lift Zone has given at-risk students the resources they need to avoid learning disruptions in order to be successful and reach their full potential. “
HEARTH provides access to safe housing and support services to homeless families in Allegheny County.
“As we learned during the pandemic, homeless families face trauma that limits access to technology and education, and the Comcast Lift Zone in Pittsburgh has bridged our families. by providing empowerment and access, ”said Marisa C. Williams, CEO of HEARTH.
“This $ 25,000 grant for Lift Zone Opportunity will fund technology upgrades and equipment in a common space that our families use for schoolwork, entertainment and reading, helping our transitional housing to feel more like a house.”
These grant recipients are four of Comcast’s 100 Lift Zone locations in the Keystone region, part of Project UP, Comcast’s initiative to advance digital equity.
“These grants will provide additional support to four Lift Zone partners whose work is helping bridge the digital divide for some of Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable families,” said Alka Patel, vice president of external and government affairs for the Keystone region. from Comcast.
In addition to Lift Zones, Comcast’s UP Project has provided nearly 4,700 Comcast RISE Awards to small business owners of color, including 23 in central and western Pennsylvania, and connected more than 10 million ‘Low-income Americans to home broadband service through Internet Essentials, including over one million in Pennsylvania.
