Bringing Broadband to the Urban Poor

(page 2 of 2)

Outside Harlem's Apollo Theater on 125th Street, New York City. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Story Tools

• post a comment
• e-mail this story
• print this story
• order a reprint
• suggest a story
• digg this
• save to del.icio.us

Still, concerted, policy-driven efforts to bridge the divide are largely the domain of nonprofits like OneEconomy, an organization started in 2000 that focuses on making broadband available to low-income families through the same funding mechanisms used to build affordable housing. For instance, OneEconomy set up the funding that paid for Celestine's broadband connection by tapping the National Equity Fund, a $6.4 billion organization that funds affordable housing projects through federal and state tax credits. "If you can change the way that affordable housing is financed, then you can change behavior," says Dave McConnell, OneEconomy's senior vice-president. "When we first started doing this, developers were very skeptical. Now that broadband is being considered a necessary utility like electricity and water, they're coming to us and asking what they need to do."

But just because a connection is available doesn't mean it will be switched on or paid for. "Owning a computer isn't something that's as widely accepted as standard equipment in our community as it is in other communities," says Lucille McEwen, president and CEO of HCCI. "It's not that people don't want high-tech things. Kids start asking for cell phones when they're in third grade." Computers with fast Internet connections are often readily available in schools and libraries, thanks to such programs as E-Rate, a 12-year-old federal program that allocates money to connect schools and public libraries, at a cost of about $2 billion a year.

Sean Bryan says his life was changed by the computer class he took during his senior year in public school. Lanky and athletic, Bryan grew up in a series of foster homes. He thought his future lay in sports, but he also had an interest in art. One project in particular "came out looking professional and the teacher was impressed," recalls Bryan, now 23. "I was impressed, too."

Computer art led to an interest in digital video production and soon he was working for Harlem Live, a video-heavy Web site produced by local teens. That experience set him on track to complete an art and design degree at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. He hopes to attend New York University in the fall. "Some people look at a computer and see a keyboard and a screen and just don't know what it can do for them," Bryan says. "It takes some motivation."

Why Home Access Is Essential

For some people, there's no substitute for having access at home. "It's pathetic trying to research health issues on a computer in a library with no privacy and a 30-minute limit," McConnell says. Having a computer at home made all the difference for 17-year-old Christine Davis, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants and a regular at a computer clubhouse run by HCCI. Her family bought its first PC this year. "Having it [at home] is a big help with homework," says Davis, a resident of Bradhurst. "When I didn't have it, it was so frustrating, and I can work on college applications late at night." Getting to a computer outside the home can be especially difficult in neighborhoods like Davis's where gangs are active.

OneEconomy also tries to ensure that computer users in low-income areas have useful content, wherever they log on. TheBeehive.org contains articles and demonstrations on such practical matters as writing a check and using a debit card. Another site, Public Internet Channel, hosts video programming, including an upcoming 12-part dramatic series called Diary of a Single Mom that chronicles the lives of three women raising children on their own. It begins Jan. 27. The point, says OneEconomy Chief Executive Officer Rey Ramsey, is to encourage adoption of broadband among low-income people. "You have to give them a reason to think this is something that will help their lives in a meaningful way," he says.

Research also points to educational benefits. One study by the University of California at Santa Cruz in 2004 found that nearly half of high school graduates who had computers and Internet access at home went on to college. Among students who didn't have computers and Internet access, the college enrollment rate fell to one in four. "Kids who have access at home can do things like search for scholarships and apply for college and for financial aid more easily than kids who don't," McEwen says. "When kids have access at home it gives them a different outlook on school. It broadens their horizons. They tend to think more about life beyond the neighborhood."

Hesseldahl is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com.