Windsor Park Evangelical Church has been in the South Shore neighborhood for over 100 years. In that time they've seen their neighborhood, and in turn the needs of the community, change significantly.
Access to reliable and affordable wifi still lags in the neighborhood (27 percent of residents still did not have broadband access at home as of 2013), making it difficult for students to complete homework assignments and residents to apply for jobs. Community members taking part in programs run out of the church, such as Leave No Veteran Behind, an organization that provides job training and other resources to veterans, have ran into difficulty due to the church's spotty wifi.
But in 2014 the church realized it had a unique opportunity: Its steeple is one of the highest points in the surrounding neighborhood. Eli Williamson, founder of Leave No Veteran Behind, had recently met Ray Savich, a marketing manager at Cambium Networks, a wireless broadband provider based in Rolling Meadows, Ill. and the two decided to use Windsor Park's architecture to its advantage.
So in 2015, Cambium Networks installed a wifi hotspot in the church steeple. Using the church as a hub, they were also able to install a hotspot in a sub shop down the street, extend the signal to the park across the street from the church and install security cameras to increase safety outside the church.
But access to wifi is just one part of what the digital divide means for Chicagoans. Alvyn Walker, a job training leader at Leave No Veteran Behind, and Will Williamson, president of Windsor Park's congregation, explain that there are few jobs in the neighborhood and the population is relatively transient. Even with increased Internet access, there are still challenges in how to use this accessibility to create a stable community.
In this story for the Chicago Inno podcast, we talk with Williamson, Walker, Savich and South Shore residents about the benefits of increased wifi access and the challenges that lay ahead.
