Connect Your Community

For many low-income households, having computers with Internet access at home is not feasible. Without access to computers and high-speed Internet access, these individuals are missing out on critical opportunities to improve their quality of life and become participants in our digital society. Connect Your Community (CYC) provides broadband training, low-cost equipment, and support for low-income individuals and their households. In addition to receiving training, participants complete a customized plan with one-on-one assistance for how they will access and use Internet in their households.

CYC will reach nearly 11,000 low-income individuals and their households in Northeast Ohio, including Cleveland, Akron, and Lorain, and 15,000 others in Appalachian Ohio; Detroit, MI; Lexington, KY; Manatee County, FL; and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County, NC. Eighty-percent funded through a two-year grant that from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, CYC partner agencies help citizens cross the digital divide.

Read the project summary and economic development impacts.

CYC participants:

Gain and upgrade computer skills through CYC’s free training.
Have opportunities to equip homes with a very affordable computer and get online with (free or affordable) high-speed Internet access; and
Experience one-on-one assistance to find online resources they need the most.

A public event in November 2010 marked the first program graduates in Cleveland and included the distribution of more than 75 computers.

Below: CYC graduates celebrate getting connected and receive their free computers.

Connect Your Community graduates in Cleveland celebrate getting connected