From its inception, CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative has pioneered cross-sector collaborations that serve low-income individuals and families to improve life outcomes. Early into our work, we saw how crucial bridging the divide is to connecting people experiencing poverty to healthcare, education, workforce, economic, and other life opportunities. We soon realized that advancing digital equity should not just be an ancillary goal, but rather a key pillar of our mission that is vital to our existing work in the housing, education, and health sectors.
As the internet’s reach has expanded to every corner of society, the Housing Is Initiative is fully integrating digital equity into its efforts to support low-income families, from working with Members of Congress and the Federal Communications Commission, to shaping legislation and regulations to better serve low-income families living in federally subsidized housing, to developing partnerships with broadband providers. Today we are pleased to formally launch this work as our Housing Is Digital Equity initiative with a new publication, Connecting Hope: How Public Housing Authorities Bridge the Digital Divide.
Published in November 2022, Connecting Hope discusses the current landscape of the digital divide, efforts to advance digital equity at the federal level, and the Housing Is Initiative’s 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.
About Housing Is Digital Equity
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. Many of these disconnected households are served by public housing authorities.
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. You can learn more about Housing Is’ role in the digital equity landscape here.
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