Albany Housing Authority getting residents connected

ALBANY — Several Albany residents got some help getting connected to the internet as the Albany Housing Authority hosted an internet sign-up event Tuesday during which eligible families could register for a new program from AT&T, and potentially find financial assistance to cover the cost.

Held at an AHA facility at 701 Society Ave. near the O.B. Hines and McIntosh Homes neighborhoods, Executive Director Dan McCarthy said the sign-up event was held to help public housing residents qualify for a new program called Access from AT&T, which is designed to help low-income families qualify for low-cost internet.

“Access AT&T is a nationwide program that’s available to families that meet (the company’s) qualifications,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy said the AT&T program allows households with at least one person who participates in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to potentially qualify to receive internet service for $10.

According to information provided by AT&T, the Access from AT&T program was started in April of this year to help qualifying families get access to a vital service that will help them succeed in the modern world, where connectivity is crucial.

“Access from AT&T is a program that provides discounted home internet service to qualifying low-income households in AT&T’s 21-state wireline footprint,” said Courtney Brinson, AT&T regional director of external affairs. “Our goal in collaborating with the Albany Housing Authority is to raise awareness about the low-cost internet option AT&T is offering.

“An internet connection can change lives. Access from AT&T makes it possible for low-income households in Albany to apply for jobs online, connect with family and friends, research health information, work to complete an online education and much more.”

While McCarthy said Access from AT&T by itself is a good program, he added that certain housing authority residents had the additional opportunity to qualify for grant funding that could defer the monthly cost of the program for an entire year.

“We have a special edition for public housing, through the Connect Home program and the nonprofit Everyone On, and HUD, the Department of Housing and Urban Development,” McCarthy said. “They have some grant funds, not from the federal government, but from a private donor, for public housing residents specifically.

“And with that the use of the funds is to pay for their monthly internet access fee for 12 months. As a way of getting families connected that might not otherwise be connected.”

McCarthy said the Connect Home program provided enough funding for 80 households to have their internet bill paid for a year, and that the program was being piloted in the McIntosh Homes neighborhood, where initial polling said the interest among residents was high. The grant program requires that households qualifying must have at least one resident in the home enrolled in school.

McCarthy said the Connect Home program and the AT&T program offer further proof that internet connectivity is vitally important in today’s society.

“Internet connectivity is an absolute requirement for success in today’s educational system, and in efforts to improve school performance, we all need to figure out how to make the internet accessible to low-income families,” he said. “And certainly from a public housing perspective, we see the advantage of a good education for improving the quality of life of our public housing families. So, it’s a good marriage in my view.”

Local resident Sandra Davis agreed with McCarthy, saying she had actually stumbled upon the sign-up event while walking around near the building, located a few blocks from her home, trying to find internet access so she could apply for a second job.

Davis said not having internet at home has been a burden for her and her son, who also needs internet access in order to complete much of his school work.

“He goes to Albany Middle School, and they mostly do all their homework online,” said Davis, who despite not being a housing authority resident does qualify for the AT&T program. “Most of it is assigned online, so that makes it difficult with us not having any internet and not really having a working phone in our house and all that stuff and no transportation.

“I think this program is great. I’m happy to have the opportunity to have internet in the home.”

McCarthy said 23 housing authority residents, plus a handful of other residents like Davis, came to the sign-up event and that the organization is hoping to schedule another such event in the near future.

“We’ve identified that a lot of the folks we thought were going to come, that were interested, were probably working, which is good,” McCarthy said. “So, we’re looking at hosting another sign-up.”

In the meantime McCarthy said public housing residents who are interested in the program, even if they are not on the priority list for the Connect Home program because they are not McIntosh Homes residents, can contact Danita Wiggins at (229) 434-4505 ext. 220 for more information.

Non-housing authority residents who are interested in learning more about the Access from AT&T program can find information about it at https://accessatt.solixcs.com/#/home.