April 17, 2008 | Read Time: 2 minutes
One Economy has set an ambitious goal — to bring high-speed Internet service to 500,000 low-income households over the next two years.
To do that, the Washington technology organization plans to raise $12-million and expand an equity fund that uses low-income housing tax credits to make money available for housing developers to wire affordable-housing projects for broadband.
Access to technology is critical for people to succeed in today’s information-based economy, says Rey Ramsey, chief executive of One Economy.
“In this country, we ought to be able to say, ‘We can build a bridge to that economy for every single person regardless of who they are and where they live,’” says Mr. Ramsey.
The Bring IT Home America campaign also seeks to provide services and support to help people use the Internet to improve their lives.
The organization’s Digital Connectors program hires young people to provide computer instruction and technical support in their neighborhoods. As part of the new campaign, One Economy hopes to increase the number of participants in the program from 1,500 to 5,000.
This summer, One Economy plans to start the Public Internet Channel, an online television network to connect low-income people with information about health, jobs, money, education, and family.
The organization says that programs will be culturally diverse, multilingual, and presented at a literacy level that will make it accessible to a variety of audiences.
“The challenge of the 21st century is, how do we meet people where they are?” says Mr. Ramsey. “How do we make sure that information is accessible, that it’s comfortable, that it’s convenient?”
Part of the answer, he says, is to focus on making the material both informative and appealing.
To that end, the actor and director Robert Townsend — perhaps best known for his films Hollywood Shuffle and The Five Heartbeats — will be creating programming for the Public Internet Channel.
For more information: Go to http://www.one-economy.com.
