Comcast announced it is donating a total of $100,000 in Lift Zone Opportunity grants to benefit low-income students and families in transitional housing in Harrisburg, Scranton, State College and Pittsburgh, part of marking the company’s 10th anniversary of its Internet Essentials program, the nation’s largest and most comprehensive broadband adoption effort for low-income households. Shalom House in Harrisburg, the NEPA Youth Shelter in Scranton, the Centre County Youth Services Bureau in State College and HEARTH in Glenshaw are four of Comcast’s Lift Zone locations and will each receive a $25,000 grant to purchase computer equipment, make site improvements, host career workshops and fund staff training.
Beyond the financial grants, Comcast is focused on increasing broadband adoption in Pennsylvania through Lift Zones, which provide free WiFi access within select recreation centers, community centers, senior centers and public housing computer labs. In addition, the company offers hundreds of hours of free digital skills training to residents – allowing more students, seniors, veterans and others to learn how to get online for distance learning, job hunting, telehealth services, and more.
Shalom House, one of the four $25,000 grant recipients, operates a 28-day emergency shelter that provides temporary, safe housing to women and children experiencing homelessness in the Harrisburg area. “The Comcast Lift Zone located in our shelter has provided clients access to WiFi for essential needs like housing and job searches, online rental applications and remote schoolwork,” said Kyla Harvey, Executive Director of Shalom House. “This Lift Zone Opportunity grant will support our existing efforts to provide client-centered, tailored support to all clients entering the Shalom Emergency Shelter.”
The NEPA Youth Shelter in Scranton operates an after school drop-in center for high school students from all backgrounds, including LGBTQ+ individuals who constitute a high percentage of the homeless youth in Lackawanna County. “Our Comcast Lift Zone has provided low-income, at-risk teens access to computers and WiFi to complete homework,” said Maureen Maher-Gray, Executive Director of NEPA Youth Shelter. “Comcast’s $25,000 Lift Zone Opportunity grant will fund technology equipment upgrades and a data backup system that will help us maintain digital access and reliability for our clients.”
Centre County Youth Service Bureau’s Stormbreak Girls Group Home is a community-based 24-hour group home facility serving youth from across Pennsylvania. “We are very grateful for the ongoing partnership we have with Comcast,” said Christine Bishop, Chief Executive Officer of Centre County Youth Services Bureau. “The Lift Zone at Stormbreak has given at-risk students the resources they need to avoid learning disruptions in order to succeed and achieve their full potential.”
HEARTH provides access to safe housing and supportive services to homeless families in Allegheny County. “As we have learned during the pandemic, families who are experiencing homelessness are dealing with trauma that limits access to technology and education and Comcast’s Lift Zone in Pittsburgh has build a bridge to our families by providing empowerment and access,” said Marisa C. Williams, Chief Executive Officer of HEARTH. “This $25,000 Lift Zone Opportunity grant will fund technology upgrades and equipment in a communal space that our families use for schoolwork, entertainment and reading, helping our transitional housing feel more like a home.”
These grant recipients are four of the 100 Lift Zone sites throughout Comcast’s Keystone Region, part of Project UP, Comcast’s comprehensive initiative to advance digital equity and help build a future of unlimited possibilities.
“These grants will provide additional support to four Lift Zone partners whose work helps close the digital divide for some of Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable families,” said Alka Patel, Vice President of External and Government Affairs for Comcast’s Keystone Region. “In addition to Lift Zones, Comcast’s Project UP has provided nearly 4,700 Comcast RISE awards to small business owners of color, including 23 throughout central and western Pennsylvania, and has connected more than 10 million low-income Americans to broadband service at home through Internet Essentials, including more than one million in Pennsylvania.”