DANEnet's Digital Equity Project focuses on leveraging partnerships with nonprofits who provide direct services to individuals and households on the other side of the digital divide so that we may provide access and education in the following ways:
1. Sharing information about affordable internet access by offering provider flyers and applications to Lifeline to all DEP program participants. Overall, we assist over 300 households per year with identifying affordable internet options.
2. We provide free laptops donated by local businesses and refurbished by our team. Laptop recipients are referred by our partner agency caseworkers, social workers, educators, and healthcare workers. All laptop recipients are low-income, and we distribute around 200 laptops per year on average. Donated laptops are always needed!
3. We offer tech repair clinics at local libraries and community centers in order to ensure people from low-income households can get their broken computers, tablets, and smart phones repaired by professionals --for free!
4. We provide free Basic Computer Skills workshops at local libraries and community centers in order to ensure adults in our community have opportunities to gain basic computer skills, and not just knowing how to use a computer but also learning the cognitive skills to navigate the internet safely and effectively, like gaining the ability to tell the difference between fake/sponsored content and legitimate/trustworthy content.
Many Digital Equity Project participants have said our programs have changed their lives, and when the COVID pandemic forced so many people into isolation more than a few healthcare providers have said our programs have actually saved lives by providing a crucial virtual link between patients and their providers when in-person visits weren't possible.
