Content excerpted and adapted from a Knight Foundation press release.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has invested $750,000 over a three-year period to the Equitable Internet Initiative (EII) to provide free high-speed internet to hundreds of Detroit families.

EII will more than quadruple a pilot project that is already using wireless technology to provide 215 homes in Detroit’s North End and surrounding neighborhoods with free high-speed internet, an area where more than 40% of household have no high-speed internet. 

The access to free high-speed internet is essential for employment opportunities, education, health care, news and information, shopping and socializing. 

“It’s unacceptable that so many North End residents are missing out on critical lifelines because they don’t have access to high-speed internet,” Nate Wallace, Detroit program director, The Knight Foundation, said in a press release. “This disparity was exacerbated during the pandemic lockdown, when high-speed internet became even more critical to daily life.” 

Knight’s investment will support the training of 18 community members as “digital stewards.” They will be taught the engineering skills to set up neighborhood-governed networks and serve as local tech support. 

According to a Knight Foundation press release, the goal is to connect 1,000 North End household in the three-year period. 

In November, Knight Foundation is continuing the conversation on the impact of the internet on our lives and will be hosting “Lessons from the First Internet Ages,” a two-day virtual symposium that will explore and evaluate what key figures in the development of the internet and online communities have learned from their experiences. 

Increasing access to broadband has been an integral part of CMF’s advocacy efforts throughout the pandemic. This is one of the key issues we will continue to discuss with policymakers, including in Foundations In Lansing beginning November 8. Learn more about Foundations in Lansing and how you can register.

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Read the full press release.