AT&T has teamed up with the Buffalo Urban League and Dreamerscorp of Buffalo to open a new state-of-the-art AT&T Digital Learning Lab @ CCC in Buffalo, which will provide computers, digital education tools, digital literacy education, mentoring and internet access for children who face digital literacy barriers that threaten to undermine their long-term success. The AT&T Digital Learning Lab @ CCC is housed at the Community Center @ CRUCIAL located at 230 Moselle Street and includes 30 new computers, furniture, printers, 3D printers, software, tools for digital literacy classes, broadband, an original mural and more.
In the City of Buffalo, it’s estimated that more than 11,400 K-12 students are impacted by the digital divide and don’t have connectivity or the internet-enabled devices they need at home.
AT&T created the New York Digital Literacy Lab initiative to help provide connectivity and access to technology in digital deserts across the Empire State. In 2022, the company will launch five new Labs across the state in partnership with regional Urban Leagues, educational non-profits, and Boys & Girls Clubs to help ensure some of the state’s most vulnerable students and families have access to computers, internet, and digital support at afterschool programs and on weekends.
AT&T’s collaboration with the Urban Leagues in New York on digital divide solutions grows out of the company’s shared vision of universal connectivity with the National Urban League as outlined in the Lewis Latimer Plan for Digital Equity and Inclusion which provides a comprehensive framework to bridge the digital divide through leveraging the tools of the information economy to create a more equitable and inclusive society.
“AT&T has been dedicated to connecting New Yorkers for more than 140 years and this investment in the Digital Learning Lab @ CCC in collboration with the Buffalo Urban League and Dreamerscorp is a reflection of the company and its employees’ ongoing commitment to bridging the digital divide and homework gap in our neighborhoods,” said Amy Kramer, president, AT&T New York. “AT&T is expanding on our longstanding commitment to Buffalo with this Digital Learning Lab and is proud to provide critical computers, technologies, connectivity and digital resources to connect some of the region’s underserved students and families – to today’s digital world.”
“Our world and its future are strongly integrated with digital connectivity,” said NYS Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes. “We must embrace that broadband and digital learning are necessities for our community to thrive. It is imperative that we achieve digital equity and inclusion in our city to prepare our residents for the future to successfully compete globally, and it starts by having access to digital learning resources that promote learning, development, and readiness. I applaud AT&T, the Buffalo Urban League, and Dream Corp partnership as they continue to deliver vital services to families across WNY.”
“For those of us who have regular access to a computer and reliable internet service, it is easy to forget that many of our neighbors lack the necessities that we often take for granted. Thank you to AT&T, the Buffalo Urban League and Dreamerscorp for teaming up to make this wonderful initiative possible,” said New York Senator Sean Ryan. “By providing students in one of Buffalo’s most underserved areas with access to the resources they need to get a first-rate education, they are doing important work to help close Western New York’s digital divide.”
“I thank AT&T, the Buffalo Urban League and Dreamerscorp of Buffalo for providing students and parents with a new state-of-the-art AT&T Digital Learning Lab at the Community Center @ CRUCIAL,” stated Mayor Byron W. Brown.
The AT&T Digital Learning Lab @ CCC is a collaboration between AT&T, the Buffalo Urban League and Dreamerscorp. The lab will provide students and families in East Buffalo access to computers, tablets, high-speed internet connections, mentoring and other technologies needed for a 21st century education.
The Community Center @ CRUCIAL is a newly opened community resource in East Buffalo, operated with the support of the Buffalo Urban League, providing critical and resourceful practices such as digital equity through access, digital literacy programing and support, money management, home ownership, employment, resume writing and interview prep, health and wellness, starting and growing your own business, exercise, and health screenings. Many of the programs and services offered at the facility were formerly not readily available in this community. The Center provides the tools needed for people to lead healthy, balanced, and productive lives.
AT&T is also providing free educational resources to the lab to help students and families participate in digital engagement and learning. This includes The Achievery, a new, free digital learning platform created by AT&T designed to make digital learning more engaging, entertaining, and inspiring for K-12 students. Free digital literacy courses and workshops will also be provided to help those who are newly connected build skills and confidence to use computers and mobile devices safely and responsibly.
Dreamerscorp Inc. is a national nonprofit organization with chapters across the county, including Buffalo, with a mission to inspire and empower black and brown youth across the US to become creators, producers and innovators of technology. It provides high school students free, in-demand training and transformative certifications opportunities in computer science and engineering to support college readiness, employment and entrepreneurship.
To help students across New York facing the digital divide, AT&T teamed up with Digitunity, a national non-profit that works through a wide device refurbisher network to advance device ownership and promote technology reuse, to provide more than 6,000 refurbished laptops and digital literacy support to organizations serving K-12 students and their families. In addition, AT&T collaborated with Connected Nation to provide students across the state more than 3,500 free hotspots and over a year of internet access to help them with virtual learning. AT&T also continues to invest in bringing wireless broadband and connectivity to this region. From 2019-2021, the company expanded coverage and improved connectivity with a nearly $1.6 billion investment in its wireless network in New York.