Photo: Pexels | August de Richelieu
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced Chicago students to stay at home and rely on their internet for their education, it highlighted the harsh reality of underserved communities and the students in them having poor or no internet connection at all. The city of Chicago, recognizing the issue, devised a four year program called "Chicago Connection". The student broadband program's goal is to provide free internet to 228,000 low-income students within the city by 2024. The program even offers resources to include community members who know very little to no English at all, while simultaneously providing information to increase digital literacy throughout the city. This program is a blueprint for not only other similar broadband programs throughout different cities, but for the entire country as a whole to have access to the internet regardless of income and language barriers.
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