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As South Florida’s schools continue to adjust to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic in providing an education to students, it has become more evident than ever that there is a digital divide which disproportionately affects children in lower-income and rural communities. This divide poses a significant risk to the quality of education these students receive, negatively impacting their ability to perform basic tasks such as attending online courses, accessing educational tools or information sources, reaching out to teachers for assistance, or completing and submitting homework assignments.
Recognizing the need to help bridge this gap, Hotwire Communications established the Empowering Communities Foundation, a charitable arm of the company dedicated to providing underserved communities with resources crucial to Internet connectivity, most recently providing aid to the South Dade Migrant Community in Homestead, Florida.
With nearly 300 homes and 400 students and children, the South Dade Migrant Community is one of the many communities identified by the Miami-Dade County Public School system as being in immediate need for drastically increased access to computers and Internet connectivity. Upon learning of the South Dade Migrant Community’s insufficient access to broadband internet and the resources necessary for constructive online learning and the development of vital digital literacy skills, Hotwire Communications answered the call.
Supported by the combined resources of The Home Page Program, a partnership between Hotwire Communications’ Empowering Communities Foundation, the Truist Foundation and Dell, Hotwire Communications utilized its engineering and construction teams to develop and build a community-wide, 5G broadband network, one which would be able to supply enough bandwidth to reliably support the entire community’s connectivity needs. Additionally, the South Dade Migrant Community will receive ongoing technical support from a dedicated team, which will be standing by and ready to immediately provide technical support 24x7x365.
During an event beginning Thursday, October 1 and lasting through the weekend, Hotwire Communications personnel were onsite at the South Dade Migrant Community, distributing over 330 Connection Kits to students and their families, with each kit consisting of a backpack filled with a laptop and other essential school supplies, including notebooks and headphones for the laptop.
Students also received training in beginner computer skills, helping them increase their digital literacy, and each will have access to The Home Page Program website, a resource which aggregates their school content and gives access to online learning tools such as WORD Force, a free literacy program sponsored by Truist.
“Hotwire Communications is proud to be able to make a difference in the lives of the South Dade Migrant Community’s students and their families,” said David Ramos, Hotwire Communications’ EVP/GM for South Florida. “Using our company’s twenty years of experience building fiber optic networks in South Florida, we were able to deliver services directly to the community, in an area other providers have overlooked for years.”
To learn more about the services that Hotwire Communications offers and find out whether it’s the right ISP choice for your community, please feel free to call 786-577-3265 or send an email to info.fisionhomesouthflorida@hotwiremail.com.
