Housing Is Digital Equity

Why Is Advancing Digital Equity Important?

Internet services and devices have become lifelines in our modern society, allowing individuals to utilize essential services, attend school, work remotely, visit healthcare providers virtually, connect with loved ones, stay informed, and access all of the opportunities and resources that the digital world offers. However, in 2021, approximately 23% of American households, or 28.2 million, did not have broadband access.

As our world’s reliance on technology continues to grow, achieving digital equity and bridging the digital divide for disadvantaged populations becomes more and more critical. The digital divide, or the gap between those who have consistent access to modern information and communications networks, technology, and devices and those who do not, disproportionately affects low-income households and contributes to racial inequities that have long plagued Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC) communities. These racial disparities in access to high speed internet and devices are underscored by research from Tufts University and the Patterson Foundation which shows that while 80% of white families with income of $50,000 or higher have high speed internet access, only 69% of non-white families with incomes of $100,000 or higher have access to high speed internet. This lack of reliable, affordable access contributes to setting Black and Hispanic individuals behind in education, employment, and connecting with community—thus, efforts towards advancing digital equity also crucially address racial inequities.

PHAs are uniquely well-positioned to help bridge the digital divide given that they house and provide services to some of our nation’s lowest-income and most disconnected families. Furthermore, because the households that PHAs serve are predominantly comprised of BIPOC individuals, PHAs’ work to bridge the digital divide also addresses racial inequities that are exacerbated by unreliable, unaffordable, or insufficient access to vital online services. PHAs are committed to advancing racial equity in their communities, and advancing digital equity is a crucial component of that mission.

Unfortunately, there are still many barriers—often rooted in lack of funding—related to broadband infrastructure, affordability of high-speed internet, and technical training that PHAs must surmount in order to facilitate digital connections for their residents.

Read more in our recent publication Connecting Hope: How Public Housing Authorities Bridge the Digital Divide!

Featured Story

With Help from FCC Grant, INLIVIAN Is Crossing the Digital Divide

7.10.23

Earlier this year, INLIVIAN received a $300,000 grant from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with the aim of assisting families in obtaining affordable broadband internet access essential for work, education, healthcare, and various other needs. In July 2022, Vice President Kamala Harris visited the INLIVIAN Carole Hoefener Center to introduce the Affordable Connectivity Program.

Featured Case Study

CLPHA is pleased to announce that 15 of our members received a combined more than $4 million in grants from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that will help bridge the digital divide for their communities!

Unlocking the Connection: How the Housing Authority of the City of Austin Has Tackled the Digital Divide

1.26.23

The Housing Authority of the City of Austin (HACA) is one of the leading housing authorities in the field of digital equity, offering several services to residents to improve digital inclusion. Eight years ago, HACA identified that their residents were missing out on the many online services and opportunities due to the digital divide – that is, the gap between those who have consistent access to modern information and communications networks, technology, and devices and those who do not.

Published in November 2022, Connecting Hope: How Public Housing Authorities Bridge the Digital Divide discusses the current landscape of the digital divide, efforts to advance digital equity at the federal level, and Housing Is’ past, current, and future advocacy work in this space on behalf of public housing authorities and the low-income families they serve. The publication also highlights examples of how PHAs are leading efforts in their communities to provide internet access, devices, digital literacy training, and technological support for their residents. Most importantly, Connecting Hope offers several policy and funding recommendations to federal decision makers and stakeholders that would help PHAs continue to connect their residents to the digital world and address challenges that housing authorities have faced in doing so.

Read Our Digital Equity Publication

The Role of Housing Is in Digital Equity Advocacy

Housing Is works to broaden and deepen efforts to align housing, education, and health organizations to produce positive long-term outcomes for those experiencing poverty, and our efforts to help bridge the digital divide for low-income families are integral to every aspect of this life-improving work.

Through frequent, compelling communication and connection with PHAs, their local partners, federal agencies, Congress, internet service providers, and other stakeholders, we have strongly supported PHAs’ efforts to advance digital equity for the low-income households they serve and advocated for the tools and resources they need to undertake this critical work of connecting their residents to the digital world. Our digital equity-focused work includes:

Providing Technical Assistance to PHAs

We disseminate digital equity resources, facilitate peer learning, and offer connections to partner organizations’ research and tools via webinars, conference sessions, grant funding, synthesis of other programs and funding opportunities.

Offering Policy Analysis and Recommendations

We have long provided feedback to the Federal Communications Commission, HUD, and Congress on federal digital equity initiatives and funding opportunities including ConnectHome USA, the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, the Affordable Connectivity Program, the ACP grant program, and the Your Home, Your Internet pilot program. We advise federal policymakers on how to improve efforts to bridge the digital divide and meet PHAs’ needs in this area.

Facilitating Connections to Digital Literacy and Devices

We partner with national and local community organizations to promote and share best practices around teaching digital literacy and securing free or low-cost devices for low-income individuals.

Addressing Infrastructure Concerns

PHAs often face practical challenges in bringing internet connections into public housing units due to the advanced age of many PHAs’ buildings; for example, many PHAs have decades-old properties made with cinder block walls that hinder the strength and reach of Wi-Fi hotspots. We advocate to policymakers for more resources and funding to address these barriers to providing high-speed internet access in older properties, including strongly urging Congress to allocate appropriate funding for PHAs to address their massive capital needs backlogs.

Considering Alternative Financing Models

Recognizing that resources are needed to engage in digital equity efforts, we continue to research and synthesize different funding options that would help PHAs provide digital access to their residents, such as internet being included as a utility allowance. We engage in advocacy through discussions with legislators and federal agencies around funding for devices and internet service, as well as increasing capacity at PHAs to help residents get connected. We also initiate and strengthen partnerships not only with national private-sector companies such as Google Fiber and other ISPs, but also local organizations and communities.

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The Latest News on CLPHA Members’ Digital Equity Work

9.21.23

Housing Is 360: The Latest in Cross Sector News (September 21, 2023)

9.13.23

Closing the Digital Divide — Together: AARP Spotlights 2022 AARP Community Challenge Recipient Jersey City HA's Senior Digital Literacy Program

From AARP:

Most of the older residents of Hudson Gardens, a housing complex in Jersey City, New Jersey, are digitally disconnected. So, when the Jersey City Housing Authority received a 2022 AARP Community Challenge grant to address this digital divide, just getting the word out to the residents was a challenge.

“Digital inequities significantly impeded our ability to connect with the people we wanted to serve since most had neither internet access nor a device,” says Allison Strobel, who oversaw the project for the Jersey City Housing Authority.

Some 100 local volunteers helped with the needed community outreach work of door-knocking and staffing in-person events. Their efforts resulted in 46 older residents signing up to receive a Wi-Fi-enabled tablet and one-on-one digital literacy lessons from Hudson County Community College students.

Money from the grant was used to purchase Amazon Fire Tablets and provide a stipend to the 12 student instructors, who were selected out of 150 applicants and provided up to 20 hours of tutoring. Each resident received about four hours of training divided into multiple sessions. The students also helped them register for free at-home broadband service through the federal Affordable Connectivity Program.

Lindsey Nunez, 21, brought her experience as her family’s go-to troubleshooter for anything technology-related. “I taught my participants how to turn the tablets on and off, download apps and connect to Wi-Fi,” says Nunez. “I helped one of the women learn how to enlarge the little letters on her cell phone.”

Resident Wanda Ramos, 58, is impressed by her new skills. “I got a new medication and learned how to Google to read the side effects,” she says, adding that she now knows how to download apps, including navigation tools. “I didn’t realize you could use GPS for walking. I thought it was only for cars and buses.”

Best of all, Ramos learned how to voice message her sister and she no longer has to seek out a relative whenever she needs something from the internet. The lessons, she says, gave her “more independence. Now I don’t have to depend on somebody to help me.”

Read AARP's article "Closing the Digital Divide — Together," featuring the Jersey City Housing Authority.

9.13.23

Comcast Gives $50,000 to Advance Digital Literacy in Fort Wayne

9.7.23

Housing Is Initiative Announces 2023-24 Working Group Webinar Calendar

Join Our September 12 Webinar Featuring Insights from the Mobility Asthma Project

CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative is pleased to announce our Housing Is Working Group 2023-24 webinar calendar! We invite you to join the Housing Is Working Group to discuss special topics related to cross-sector initiatives and programmatic considerations particularly focused on the intersections of housing, health, and education. While some sessions are reserved for CLPHA members only, this year’s public webinars cover topics such as the mobility asthma project, trauma-informed approaches to housing, resident-focused racial equity work, out-of-school time, and how FCC grantees are supprting voucher holders.

If you have questions about this working group or you are interested in presenting on any of the topics on the schedule, please email Director of Cross-Sector Initiatives Abra Lyons-Warren (abra@clpha.org) or Health Policy Manager Camille Anoll-Hunter (canoll@clpha.org). If you would like to be added to our dedicated Housing Is Working Group mailing list, please send an email with staff name, title, and email to housingis@clpha.org.

View Full Webinar Calendar

Join us on Tuesday, September 12 at 2:00 p.m. ET for our first webinar of our 2023-24 HIWG calendar, where researchers from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health will share their research on improvements in asthma as children move to opportunity neighborhoods through the Mobility Asthma Project.

This webinar is open to all interested attendees -- please feel free to share with your colleagues! Speakers:

Craig Evan Pollack, MD, Professor of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University
Laken Roberts Lavigne, PhD, Assistant Scientist of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University

Register Now

7.27.23

Opportunity Home San Antonio narrows digital divide in public housing