Third District Wilmington City Council Member Darius Brown has partnered with the Wilmington Housing Authority and Comcast to encourage U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and other affordable housing-assisted City residents to apply for Internet Essentials, the company’s high speed Internet adoption program for low-income families. Internet Essentials provides internet service for only $9.95 a month plus tax; the option to purchase an internet-ready computer for under $150.00; and multiple options to access free digital literacy training in print, online and in-person.

The program was started in 2011 by Comcast to help close a widening technology learning gap among students—what has become commonly known as the digital divide especially affecting low income Americans. Comcast has now expanded Internet Essentials eligibility several times, most recently to include residents of public housing and those who receive HUD assistance.

At a news conference held today during a Community Fair at Kingswood Community Center on Bowers Street, Council Member Brown was joined by Kevin Broadhurst, Senior Director of Government Affairs for Comcast, Karen Spellman, the Acting Executive Director of the Wilmington Housing Authority and At-Large City Council Member Justen Wright to promote the expanded availability of Internet Essentials.

“In my home third council district and throughout Wilmington we are on a mission to end poverty and extend the ladders of opportunity and prosperity to all people,” said Council Member Brown. “There is no better way to lift a person up than to offer them a chance to communicate, participate and compete like everyone else does today which is through a computer that is linked to the Internet. I thank Comcast for making this program available and for expanding it to more and more people and I thank the WHA and Kingswood for helping us to alert our citizens to this opportunity.”

“This is the largest expansion of the program since the inception of Internet Essentials in 2011,” said Broadhurst. “We are thrilled to be working with Wilmington City Council, the Wilmington Housing Authority and HUD to help close the digital divide and make a meaningful impact in our community.”

“I am very excited about this partnership and the opportunity being made available to our residents,” said Karen Spellman of the WHA. “Access to the Internet will open doors to the world outside of public housing thereby creating a new awareness and goals for those that may never have had the chance to see beyond where they are today. We will have application forms to promote Internet Essentials at all WHA management sites, as well as the WHA ‘One Stop Shop’ located at the Crestview Apartments, 2700 N. Market Street in Wilmington.”

HUD estimates that up to two million HUD-assisted homes, including Public Housing, Housing Choice Voucher, and Multifamily programs now have access to low-cost Internet service which is also more than 40 percent of all HUD-assisted households nationwide.

Comcast’s expansion of the program earlier this year marks the first time in its history, outside of some pilot markets, that adults without a child eligible for the National School Lunch Program are eligible to apply for Internet Essentials. Now, senior citizens will also be able to access the Internet to do the things many of us often take for granted, such as sharing photos with loved ones, communicating via video chat, paying bills and following the news.

Comcast said that according to a 2013 American Community Survey, less than 43 percent of individuals without a high school diploma or an equivalent lack home Internet access and thus are not as readily able to acquire the necessary digital literacy skills to thrive in a highly competitive, global workforce.

“Internet Essentials is not only about building a bridge to help more Americans cross the digital divide, but is about helping people use the Internet to climb up the economic ladder to a better education and a better job that will help them achieve their dreams and help end the cycle of poverty,” said Broadhurst.

For more information about this news release, contact:

John Rago
Communications and Policy Development Director
Wilmington City Council
Phone:  (302) 576-2149
Mobile: (302) 420-7928
Email: jrago@WilmingtonDE.gov