The city of Racine will soon give away hundreds of free laptops to families in need to help close technology access gaps in the community.
Racine leaders recently approved the grant-funded program, which will help 460 low-income families close the digital divide by providing training, replacements, and long-term technical support.
To make the program a success, the city is partnering with Milwaukee-based nonprofit Digital Bridge, which focuses on e-waste recycling and refurbishing technology.
Nonprofit leader Michael Regione said the group has had success serving communities around the world.
“It’s a nice, nice partnership,” Regione said.
Monique Rollins is one of many in Milwaukee already benefiting from a similar program called Techquity, which partners Digital Bridge with United Way.
"A lot of things now are done on the internet, so it’s like pretty much anything you do, it’s 'Well hey, do you have a laptop?'” Rollins shared. “Do you have a tablet? So yeah."
David Berka, impact manager of the Techquity initiative, said the program has grown significantly since it first launched during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Watch: Non-profit partners with City of Racine to give out free laptops
“The more we have learned about those needs, we’ve tried to ramp up this program as best we can to meet the scale of that need,” he explained.
To date, he estimates they’ve given out thousands of laptops, a win-win for Regione.
“We are recycling all of that and saving thousands of pounds from going into landfills and oceans,” he said.
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