AT&T has opened a "connected learning center" at the non-profit, CitySquare, in southern Dallas. The center is the company's third in Dallas County and 20th across the country.
AT&T says connected learning centers give people a place where they can apply for jobs, check email and do research if they do not have an internet connection at home or are homeless.
"Where our headquarters is located, we are in walking distance of several homeless service providers, so the homeless individuals of Dallas are our neighbors," says AT&T Vice President Mike Peterson.
Peterson says AT&T has committed $2 billion to help people connect to the internet. Earlier this fall, connected learning centers opened at Family Gateway in Downtown Dallas and at For Oak Cliff.
He says AT&T launched an initiative called "Believe America" three years ago focused on "mitigating and preventing homelessness." He says the initiative has identified digital connectivity as an obstacle.
Dallas ISD says 18% of students do not have internet access at home; 27% have service that is "below the minimum federal standard and therefore inadequate for remote learning."
Peterson says AT&T hopes to reach 70% of homes in Dallas with a fiber connection by the end of 2022.
"That's the easy part, if you will," he says. "The hard part is getting people to subscribe and connected in their home. The connected learning centers are part of our strategy to begin to address. We know there are a lot families who are intimidated or, more so, don't even know about the programs available to them."
"We can have all the computers and all the tablets in the world for our students," says Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins. "But if they're not connected, it doesn't matter."
Jenkins says the pandemic has brought more attention to existing issues in Dallas County, calling the numbers of people without internet access "unacceptable."
"We've seen first-hand how the digital divide cuts off students from the online tools and technology they need to learn and to succeed," he says.
Wesley-Rankin, a community center in West Dallas, says it received 60 hot spots to give to families as part of the project.
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