Chester County
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Purpose
~To come together as a County community initiative to address and advocate for digital equity;
~In a way that focuses on the most vulnerable members of our community (low income, non- English speakers, seniors) in the areas of access and literacy;
~So that each and all can pursue educational, social and economic opportunities leading to greater community investment.
~To come together as a County community initiative to address and advocate for digital equity;
~In a way that focuses on the most vulnerable members of our community (low income, non- English speakers, seniors) in the areas of access and literacy;
~So that each and all can pursue educational, social and economic opportunities leading to greater community investment.
Mission
To advocate for digital access and literacy being a primary right of all residents.
To advocate for digital access and literacy being a primary right of all residents.
GOOD NEWS!
On February 2, 2023, a Southern Chester County Digital Equity Coalition Zoom meeting was held. An update was given on the SCC broadband assessment conducted by Magellan Advisors and the work of the digital literacy program.
Along with this information, an announcement was made that the current Coalition is now the Chester County Digital Alliance. This means that the Chester County Economic Development Council (CCEDC) and the Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU) will take the lead, along with the support of the Chester County Planning Commission (CCPC) and current volunteers, Joan Holliday, Jim Mercante and the Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce.
The Chester County Digital Alliance is preparing for a grant submission in the summer of 2023. As a first step, the Alliance is seeking additional granular data about poor or no Internet or cell service to homes and businesses in Chester County. Each municipality was sent the below letter on March 2, 2023 to reach out to their residents to learn of these problems. This outreach will continue for the next couple of months with follow-up phone calls.
Email Letter sent on March 2, 2023
Dear Chester County Municipality,
On behalf of the Chester County Digital Alliance, the Chester County Planning Commission (CCPC), the Chester County Economic Development Council (CCEDC) and the Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU), we are reaching out to municipal leadership to help us plan for the delivery of internet services and broadband capability to those who do not have service or access to service within your community.
In the coming months, there will be a series of funding opportunities through the Pennsylvania Broadband Infrastructure Program and the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, to help address gaps in coverage and larger scale regional projects; but we need to know where those gaps in coverage exist today. Your local neighbors would typically want to inform their municipality that they do not have any coverage, and armed with the addresses of these residents/businesses (not names just street addresses) we will be able to develop a better informed county-wide map that can help begin the deployment of services.
What We Need: If you have a resident who has informed you that they do not have access to these types of services, we would welcome knowing their address to make them part of future planned improvements. By asking your residents to let you know if they are experiencing this at their homes or offices, we can help plan for a solution for them in the not too distant future. Please consider adding this request to any of your township/borough/city newsletters or hardcopy mailings sent to your residents as well as sharing this at public meetings, asking your residents to advise you on outages or gaps. The more people we can identify the better the solution we can provide.
The time is now to plan for the future of our county and we need your help to provide the best solutions possible. You can send addresses that you come across to me directly via email and I will add them to the county-wide list. A volunteer from the CC Digital Alliance will identify themselves in a follow up phone call the week of March 27 and April 10 allowing you to gather information that we will collect during these phone calls.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call or email.
Sincerely,
MaryFrances McGarrity
CCEDC, CCPC, CCIU
Chester County Digital Alliance
On February 2, 2023, a Southern Chester County Digital Equity Coalition Zoom meeting was held. An update was given on the SCC broadband assessment conducted by Magellan Advisors and the work of the digital literacy program.
Along with this information, an announcement was made that the current Coalition is now the Chester County Digital Alliance. This means that the Chester County Economic Development Council (CCEDC) and the Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU) will take the lead, along with the support of the Chester County Planning Commission (CCPC) and current volunteers, Joan Holliday, Jim Mercante and the Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce.
The Chester County Digital Alliance is preparing for a grant submission in the summer of 2023. As a first step, the Alliance is seeking additional granular data about poor or no Internet or cell service to homes and businesses in Chester County. Each municipality was sent the below letter on March 2, 2023 to reach out to their residents to learn of these problems. This outreach will continue for the next couple of months with follow-up phone calls.
Email Letter sent on March 2, 2023
Dear Chester County Municipality,
On behalf of the Chester County Digital Alliance, the Chester County Planning Commission (CCPC), the Chester County Economic Development Council (CCEDC) and the Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU), we are reaching out to municipal leadership to help us plan for the delivery of internet services and broadband capability to those who do not have service or access to service within your community.
In the coming months, there will be a series of funding opportunities through the Pennsylvania Broadband Infrastructure Program and the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, to help address gaps in coverage and larger scale regional projects; but we need to know where those gaps in coverage exist today. Your local neighbors would typically want to inform their municipality that they do not have any coverage, and armed with the addresses of these residents/businesses (not names just street addresses) we will be able to develop a better informed county-wide map that can help begin the deployment of services.
What We Need: If you have a resident who has informed you that they do not have access to these types of services, we would welcome knowing their address to make them part of future planned improvements. By asking your residents to let you know if they are experiencing this at their homes or offices, we can help plan for a solution for them in the not too distant future. Please consider adding this request to any of your township/borough/city newsletters or hardcopy mailings sent to your residents as well as sharing this at public meetings, asking your residents to advise you on outages or gaps. The more people we can identify the better the solution we can provide.
The time is now to plan for the future of our county and we need your help to provide the best solutions possible. You can send addresses that you come across to me directly via email and I will add them to the county-wide list. A volunteer from the CC Digital Alliance will identify themselves in a follow up phone call the week of March 27 and April 10 allowing you to gather information that we will collect during these phone calls.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call or email.
Sincerely,
MaryFrances McGarrity
CCEDC, CCPC, CCIU
Chester County Digital Alliance
History
Joan Holliday, a retired Public Health Nurse and Jim Mercante, a retired past owner of a tech business called together a virtual Coalition meeting composed of a broad-spectrum of community representatives in March of 2021. Many of the meeting attendees had experienced firsthand the issues with Internet connectivity for virtual learning and working from home throughout Southern Chester County.
As a result of the first meeting, Chester County Community Development secured a $200,000 grant from the Department of Labor to conduct a Broadband Assessment under the management of the Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU). Magellan Advisors was hired as the contractor, and the study was completed in July 2022. The boots on the ground study helps develop options for a connectivity plan with grant applications to build a robust broadband network.
Joan Holliday, a retired Public Health Nurse and Jim Mercante, a retired past owner of a tech business called together a virtual Coalition meeting composed of a broad-spectrum of community representatives in March of 2021. Many of the meeting attendees had experienced firsthand the issues with Internet connectivity for virtual learning and working from home throughout Southern Chester County.
As a result of the first meeting, Chester County Community Development secured a $200,000 grant from the Department of Labor to conduct a Broadband Assessment under the management of the Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU). Magellan Advisors was hired as the contractor, and the study was completed in July 2022. The boots on the ground study helps develop options for a connectivity plan with grant applications to build a robust broadband network.
Digital Literacy Pilot Project
The second phase of the project was the Digital Literacy Pilot Project, launched in the summer 2021 after a virtual Coalition meeting was called by Joan and Jim. RSVP, a King of Prussia-based non-profit organization agreed to provide digital literacy training, as they had access to a curriculum they developed with seniors during the pandemic. The model of education is train-the-trainer. Trusted agencies are identified that serve the vulnerable---low-income, non-English speakers and seniors. The employees from these agencies are trained, then following their training, they in turn train their clients in a one-on-one or classroom setting.
In 2021-22, RSVP developed the digital literacy curriculum for the Chester County Digital Equity Pilot Project to conduct classes. Training materials are available in both English and Spanish. Joan and Jim recruited funds from the local community and received a $15,000 donation from Square Roots Collective, a collection of social enterprises that join in advancing the Kennett Square community toward an ecosystem in which everyone can thrive. Matching funds of $5,000 were also received from each of the following organizations: American Mushroom Institute, United Way of Southern Chester County, and Kennett Longwood Rotary/Gundaker. In addition, a private donor contributed $11,700 for a digital literacy platform/Moodle for RSVP to assist agencies conducting the training. In 2021, the overall cost of the program was $53,000, and it is expected to be approximately $100,000 for 2022.
The second phase of the project was the Digital Literacy Pilot Project, launched in the summer 2021 after a virtual Coalition meeting was called by Joan and Jim. RSVP, a King of Prussia-based non-profit organization agreed to provide digital literacy training, as they had access to a curriculum they developed with seniors during the pandemic. The model of education is train-the-trainer. Trusted agencies are identified that serve the vulnerable---low-income, non-English speakers and seniors. The employees from these agencies are trained, then following their training, they in turn train their clients in a one-on-one or classroom setting.
In 2021-22, RSVP developed the digital literacy curriculum for the Chester County Digital Equity Pilot Project to conduct classes. Training materials are available in both English and Spanish. Joan and Jim recruited funds from the local community and received a $15,000 donation from Square Roots Collective, a collection of social enterprises that join in advancing the Kennett Square community toward an ecosystem in which everyone can thrive. Matching funds of $5,000 were also received from each of the following organizations: American Mushroom Institute, United Way of Southern Chester County, and Kennett Longwood Rotary/Gundaker. In addition, a private donor contributed $11,700 for a digital literacy platform/Moodle for RSVP to assist agencies conducting the training. In 2021, the overall cost of the program was $53,000, and it is expected to be approximately $100,000 for 2022.
Collaborating with Trusted Agencies in the Chester County
Pilot Agencies for Train the Trainer: *RSVP (Lead Agency), Maternal and Child Health Consortium of Chester County, The Garage Community and Youth Center,
Good Samaritan Services, Kennett Area Senior Center, Kennett Consolidated School District, Kennett Head Start, Kennett Library, LCH Health and Community Services, Mighty Writers, Oxford Library, Oxford Neighborhood Services, PathStone Corporation, South Mill Champs Mushrooms, Tick Tock Early Learning Center, Unionville/Chaddsford School District, and YoungMoms
Pilot Agencies for Train the Trainer: *RSVP (Lead Agency), Maternal and Child Health Consortium of Chester County, The Garage Community and Youth Center,
Good Samaritan Services, Kennett Area Senior Center, Kennett Consolidated School District, Kennett Head Start, Kennett Library, LCH Health and Community Services, Mighty Writers, Oxford Library, Oxford Neighborhood Services, PathStone Corporation, South Mill Champs Mushrooms, Tick Tock Early Learning Center, Unionville/Chaddsford School District, and YoungMoms
*RSVP: Founded in 1973, RSVP utilizes a growing corps of dedicated volunteers to meet the evolving needs of vulnerable community members throughout the Greater Delaware Valley. To help bridge the digital inequity faced by adults and seniors, RSVP created the Digital Technology Training program to provide direct online instruction covering internet safety, email, use of web browsers, apps for smartphones, and a Zoom user’s guide. This program was further adapted to include a train-the-trainer component offered to member organizations of the Southern Chester County Community Coalition, providing their staff with the materials to offer training to their members. Learn more: www.rsvpmc.org
Our Progress
Digital Literacy
In 2021-22, RSVP developed the digital literacy curriculum for the Chester County Digital Equity Pilot Project to conduct classes. Training materials are available in both English and Spanish. Joan and Jim recruited funds from the local community and received a $15,000 donation from Square Roots Collective, a collection of social enterprises that join in advancing the Kennett Square community toward an ecosystem in which everyone can thrive. Matching funds of $5,000 were also received from the American Mushroom Institute, United Way of Southern Chester County for $5,000 and the Kennett Longwood Rotary/Gundaker for $5,000. In addition, a private donor contributed $11,700 for a digital literacy platform/Moodle for RSVP to assist agencies conducting the training. The overall cost of the program was $53,000 in 2021 and be around $100,000 in 2022.
Digital Literacy
In 2021-22, RSVP developed the digital literacy curriculum for the Chester County Digital Equity Pilot Project to conduct classes. Training materials are available in both English and Spanish. Joan and Jim recruited funds from the local community and received a $15,000 donation from Square Roots Collective, a collection of social enterprises that join in advancing the Kennett Square community toward an ecosystem in which everyone can thrive. Matching funds of $5,000 were also received from the American Mushroom Institute, United Way of Southern Chester County for $5,000 and the Kennett Longwood Rotary/Gundaker for $5,000. In addition, a private donor contributed $11,700 for a digital literacy platform/Moodle for RSVP to assist agencies conducting the training. The overall cost of the program was $53,000 in 2021 and be around $100,000 in 2022.
Lessons Learned
Early on in the process, we realized that this was much greater than schools and virtual learning; a significant constituency in Chester County, in each school district, was underserved or unserved with regard to broadband access. It quickly became apparent that the Internet is not just about education-it is a fundamental tool essential for daily living.
Digital Inclusion – access and literacy – involves workforce development – such as learning a trade, access to electronic tools for learning, healthcare, access to financial services, access to government services and programs, commerce – starting a business, entrepreneurship, and more. As an example, we know that an area of great concern is mental health services. There are numerous organizations that offer mental health support services via the Internet, including virtual counseling services. Great organizations such as “A Child’s Light” offers mental health counseling to residents of Chester County between the ages of 2 and 18.
Affordable access to robust Broadband Connectivity and Digital Skills are key elements for building a thriving and diverse community. Along the way we connected with the Digital Equity projects in the City of Philadelphia to learn from their experiences. We joined the National Digital Inclusion Alliance which is where we learned of another Digital Equity project in PA – the Greater Pittsburgh Digital Equity Coalition. The three of us formed what we call the PA Statewide Digital Coalition and meet regularly and attract other state digital equity initiatives, and share experiences and collaborate on advancing digital equity in the Commonwealth.
Early on in the process, we realized that this was much greater than schools and virtual learning; a significant constituency in Chester County, in each school district, was underserved or unserved with regard to broadband access. It quickly became apparent that the Internet is not just about education-it is a fundamental tool essential for daily living.
Digital Inclusion – access and literacy – involves workforce development – such as learning a trade, access to electronic tools for learning, healthcare, access to financial services, access to government services and programs, commerce – starting a business, entrepreneurship, and more. As an example, we know that an area of great concern is mental health services. There are numerous organizations that offer mental health support services via the Internet, including virtual counseling services. Great organizations such as “A Child’s Light” offers mental health counseling to residents of Chester County between the ages of 2 and 18.
Affordable access to robust Broadband Connectivity and Digital Skills are key elements for building a thriving and diverse community. Along the way we connected with the Digital Equity projects in the City of Philadelphia to learn from their experiences. We joined the National Digital Inclusion Alliance which is where we learned of another Digital Equity project in PA – the Greater Pittsburgh Digital Equity Coalition. The three of us formed what we call the PA Statewide Digital Coalition and meet regularly and attract other state digital equity initiatives, and share experiences and collaborate on advancing digital equity in the Commonwealth.
Bridging the Digital Divide
The digital divide is the gap between those who have affordable access, skills, and support to effectively engage online and those who do not. As technology constantly evolves, the digital divide prevents equal participation and opportunity in all parts of life, disproportionately affecting people of color, Indigenous peoples, households with low incomes, people with disabilities, people in rural areas, and older adults.
The Internet has had the capacity to be the great equalizer of our time:
•To start a business from home
•Communicate with loved ones across oceans and time zones
•Work and learn remotely
•Receive healthcare services even if you live hours from a medical provider
•Engage in any other of the thousands of opportunities the internet brings into a person’s home
And yet, too many US residents continue to be disconnected from the internet and the opportunities it provides access to, and arguably has accentuated disparities where they exist.
The Internet has had the capacity to be the great equalizer of our time:
•To start a business from home
•Communicate with loved ones across oceans and time zones
•Work and learn remotely
•Receive healthcare services even if you live hours from a medical provider
•Engage in any other of the thousands of opportunities the internet brings into a person’s home
And yet, too many US residents continue to be disconnected from the internet and the opportunities it provides access to, and arguably has accentuated disparities where they exist.
Digital Connectivity Timeline Broadband Access RFP Timeline
Contacts:
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Jim Mercante Joan Holliday
Co-Chair Co-Chair
Chester County Digital Equity Coalition Chester County Digital Equity Coalition
vjmercante@gmail.com dochollisv@aol.com
610-563-4064 610-717-2180
Co-Chair Co-Chair
Chester County Digital Equity Coalition Chester County Digital Equity Coalition
vjmercante@gmail.com dochollisv@aol.com
610-563-4064 610-717-2180
Tools and Resources
Below are the documents from the February 2nd Update of the Southern Chester County Digital Equity Coalition:
SCC Digital Equity Coalition link to the February 2nd Slide Deck:
SCC Digital Equity Coalition link to the February 2nd Update VIMEO recording::
| scc_broadband_feasibility_study_dec_22.pdf |
| digital_equity_boosts.doc.pdf |
| digital_lit_life_skill.doc.pdf |
| digital_literacy_classes_cybersecurity.pdf |
