Boston nonprofit Tech Goes Home has won a new $650,000 grant from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to aid its misson of closing the digital divide as a constantly evolving technology landscape requires people to be more and more savvy.
The nonprofit works to “meet people where they are with their goals,” said Dan Noyes, CEO of Tech Goes Home.
The organization partners with community sites to provide people with computers, internet access, and training on how to use the devices.
There’s nothing that digital equity and inclusion doesn’t touch, Noyes said. The nonprofit's participants lose out on opportunities because of a lack of digital access, either because they don’t have the equipment, or because they don’t know how to use it. That includes jobs, apartments, and aid available.
In Massachusetts, 90% of people without access to the internet live in urban areas, including Boston and the state’s Gateway cities. Upwards of one million Bay Staters don’t have sufficient internet access at home, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The grant Tech Goes Home received from Beth Israel last week will specifically support Tech Goes Homes’ workforce development programs. The programs equip participants with skills to advance their career goals and unlock economic mobility. It will be used over a three-year period in Boston neighborhoods including Chinatown, Allston/Brighton, and Roxbury.
The nonprofit now is tackling the onslaught of new technological developments like ChatGPT, which put disadvantaged people further back, according to Noyes.
“It is moving so fast,” Noyes said. “This is a constant question we are facing.”
There isn’t a clear answer, he said, but the focus needs to remain on providing the most up-to-date information and instruction, so they can compete with people with the means to access a whole host of cutting-edge technologies.
This round of funding from Beth Israel also will be used to evaluate of the efficiency of individual on-the-ground programs. Tech Goes Home will collect data related to job placements, income, and other measurable outcomes.
The grant was announced as part of a $7.25 million initiative from Beth Israel to provide funding to 11 nonprofits addressing community health needs.
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