More than 150 residents of a west Charlotte affordable housing community received free laptops on Thursday as part of a three-year initiative to distribute 1,600 laptops and reduce the digital divide.
As residents of Evoke Living at Westerly Hills lined up in the parking lot of their apartment complex to collect refurbished laptops, one resident, Mildred Littlejohn said she wouldn't have been able to provide her granddaughter with a laptop without the initiative.
“If they hadn’t given it to us, my granddaughter wouldn’t have got one ‘cause it’s not in my budget," said Littlejohn. “I’m barely paying my rent and my lights. This is a necessity for my grandbaby. She is really going to enjoy it.”
E2D, short for Eliminate The Digital Divide, is part of the initiative. Supporting E2D in the partnership is Bruce Clark, executive director of theCenter for Digital Equity. Clark and his team offerdigital navigator services to help residents locate reasonably priced internet providers.
“For many folks in our community, that cost is a barrier to getting that service to obtaining that laptop or getting the internet,” Clark said. “And so, digital navigators help residents find those resources and connect with those resources in a manner that allows them to create that new opportunity in their life.”
Another program that is part of the collaboration is the Affordable Connectivity Program. This program helps eligible households pay for internet services.
The initiative also provided a literacy support program sponsored by Barings, an investment management firm. The company funded the collaboration between the different organizations and provided one of their "Barings Book Buses" on Thursday — a mobile library set up for elementary-level readers. David Stogdill is the manager of the literacy program. He said the bus has about 3,000 books available for students.
“We do have a number of shelves for different grade levels. So, we have pre-k all the way up to fifth grade, and then some other shelves include animals, sports, science,” said Stogdill. “We also have a Spanish-bilingual section, we have a history, multicultural section as well. So, kids can hopefully find their favorite book or something that looks interesting to them.”
Elizabeth Cooper is the head of social impact at Barings. She said having access to a digital device is a necessity.
“From an education perspective, from a workforce development perspective, and really, all the partners here today, I think, see this as so much more than just, ‘hey, here’s a device and walking away,’” said Cooper. “We are really trying to make an impact since so much of our world is online.”
The event at Evoke Living at Westerly Hills is the first of four expected distributions among communities funded by the Charlotte Housing Opportunity Investment Fund — managed by LISC Charlotte. The initiative will continue to address the digital divide in the communities on the south and east sides of Charlotte.
