Thousands of Charlotte families don’t have computers. This company is trying to help
Nikita James was laid off from her job as an AV technician in Charlotte in April.
Since then, she’s applied for new jobs, filed for unemployment and searched for new housing for her and her twin teenage sons — all from the palm-sized screen of her smartphone.
Like nearly 38,000 other families in Mecklenburg County, James and her sons Anthony and Aaron Hall didn’t have a computer at home. Until recently, they relied on their phones or laptops provided by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools that have to be returned every summer.
But that’s about to change. Now, they’ll be one of 10,000 households in Charlotte to receive a Chromebook at no cost for the family to use.
The laptops were donated to CMS students and families by Bank of America, in partnership with Eliminate the Digital Divide (E2D), a Cornelius-based nonprofit that works to bridge the digital divide in Charlotte by providing computers, digital literacy training and other programs for families in the area.
Bank of America announced the donation Thursday morning.
The digital divide is the gap between those who do and do not have access to a computer, the Internet and the knowledge necessary to use them, said Pat Millen, founder and president of E2D.
The laptops are more than just an educational tool, Millen said. Families who don’t own a computer can have a harder time accessing social services, making telehealth appointments or applying for jobs.
The pandemic, he said, cast that disparity in sharper relief. “It really shined a bright light on what not having a computer could represent.”
E2D has partnered with several companies in Charlotte, Millen said, but the Bank of America donation is its largest single gift.
He said the nonprofit worked for six years to distribute its first 10,000 computers in Charlotte. Now, it will distribute that same amount in a matter of weeks.
The donation will address the needs of 20% to 25% of families without a computer in the county, he said.
‘It puts us behind’
The donation was spearheaded in part by Kieth Cockrell, who took the helm as Bank of America’s Charlotte president this May.
Raised by his grandparents, Cockrell said he grew up in poverty in New York, and owes his success to “teachers and coaches that introduced me to things that my grandparents simply couldn’t.” Now, he said, he wants to help create similar opportunities for students.
“I believe that we’ve got a shot at being the first major city to eliminate the digital divide,” Cockrell told the Observer. “We can’t solve all the problems (in Charlotte) and this donation won’t eradicate them… What we are trying to do is establish leadership.”
Computer access is just one of many inequities affecting Charlotte families, Mellis said. But at the current pace, local advocates could provide a computer for “virtually every family” in the county by the end of 2022, he said.
“What I’d love to do is solve the digital divide and then go start working on (other issues),” he said. “There’s a lot of work to be done in Mecklenburg County.”
James said there are many people in her community who don’t own a computer, and instead rely on their children’s school-issued laptops when they can.
“It puts us behind, not having that technology, having to try and go to social services, or the library, and maybe not even having a way to do that,” she said. “This helps a lot of people.”
This story was originally published July 29, 2021 at 10:03 AM.
