We're a nonprofit focused on digital equity and we do this two ways:
1) We provide affordable, professional IT support to over 100 other nonprofits in Dane County, both large and small, doing a variety work including desktop support, staff computer setup, building wireless networks, installing security camera systems, and pretty much everything in between. Nonprofits often don't have large budgets (or even budgets at all!) for tech support, and that can put their data, network, ... Read More
We're a nonprofit focused on digital equity and we do this two ways:
1) We provide affordable, professional IT support to over 100 other nonprofits in Dane County, both large and small, doing a variety work including desktop support, staff computer setup, building wireless networks, installing security camera systems, and pretty much everything in between. Nonprofits often don't have large budgets (or even budgets at all!) for tech support, and that can put their data, network, staff, and clients at risk. We've been doing this work since 1996 because we want all nonprofits to have safe, efficient tech systems.
2) Our Digital Equity Project was started in 2020 and is entirely funded by donations and grants. Through this program we leverage partnerships with dozens of other nonprofits and agencies working with adults from low-income households so their direct service providers (caseworkers, social workers, healthcare providers, and educators) can refer clients for:
*Free digital skills education
*Free refurbished donated laptops
*Assistance enrolling in affordable home internet plans
When people have working devices, connectivity, and the skills to use both they have access to better health, educational success, job opportunities, financial independence, and social/civic engagement. Program participants are typically formerly homeless families, veterans, elderly citizens, adults living with disabilities/trauma, at-risk teens, those living in financial precarity, and other vulnerable community members.
Since its inception, our Digital Equity Project has helped thousands of low-income households improve their computer skills and connectivity. We've helped rural cancer patients connect with telehealth visits, assisted single parents with resume-building computer skills, helped seniors stay safe online, given job-hunters access to online training/education, and shown isolated veterans ways to connect with support and community online. All this is made possible through donations of both money and used laptops; we could not create this amazing impact without community collaboration.
THE DATA
Digital Equity Project laptop recipients are regularly surveyed to find out what their free refurbished laptops were able to help them accomplish. 2025 survey results indicate:
70% of working-age laptop recipients found jobs, found better jobs, or received online job skills training/certification. Considering that 95% of all laptop recipients are from low-income households, the economic impact of this should not be underestimated.
75% of elders who received laptops reported decreased isolation. This is huge because isolation puts them at higher risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, a weakened immune system, anxiety, depression, cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease, and even death (National Institute on Aging, 2019).
50% of elders were able to improve their access to healthcare because their laptop afforded them access to telehealth, a vital resource that had been out of reach before.
DANEnet is a small but mighty organization dedicated to improving lives in Dane County, and every day we are humbled and grateful for the amazing community that helps us do this work.
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