ARPA-funded Wi-Fi Project Delivers Digital Equity to Housing Authority Residents

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Beginning this fall and into next year, a small but powerful change will take place inside 355 homes in six Housing Authority of Champaign County properties throughout Urbana and Champaign.

Residents won’t really be able to see this change. But once it comes, it can help transform families in so many ways, unlocking new educational opportunities, breaking down healthcare barriers, and unleashing new employment prospects.

The project is called VCHAP and it’s an innovative and exciting private-public-nonprofit partnership that will eliminate one of the highest hurdles to digital equity for close to 1,000 of Champaign County’s most vulnerable residents—including children, seniors, and disabled people—all of whom are considered underserved or unserved.

The VCHAP collaboration is between the Housing Authority of Champaign County, the Champaign County Board, and Volo Internet + Tech and will deploy 438 next generation WiFi 7 APs for every home in six HACC managed properties throughout Champaign County.

The project is fueled by $195,000 in ARPA funds made possible by the Champaign County Board’s Broadband Task Force. An additional $132,109 in labor will be provided by Volo for installations, training, device management, and customer troubleshooting. The Housing Authority is contributing another $46,935 in labor to coordinate unit access and schedule tenant training appointments.

“The VCHAP project is about digital equity,” says Peter Folk, Volo Founder & CEO. “It’s about eliminating the roadblocks that the most in-need members of our community have in accessing true broadband on an equal footing.”

Consider this: many area families enjoy full, robust, and affordable internet across, with a vast majority using Wi-Fi connectivity that allows multiple devices to access the Internet in the household. Paying for such a set up can run $1,000 or more a year for service, current Wi-Fi technology, and support. “For low-income families, such a price-point is an insurmountable barrier,” says Folk. “But the door to good, reliable, and affordable Internet should not be closed to them.”

“Most of our tenants are using data- and speed-limited cell phones to get what little – and slow – Internet they can,” reports Housing Authority of Champaign County CEO Lily Walton. “We have residents unable to access telemedicine needs. We have parents with limited employment options because they don’t have the bandwidth for online applications or interviews and have almost no online employment options. And for our school-aged kids, their school-provided Wi-Fi-only Chromebooks require Wi-Fi, which most of our residents do not have and cannot access. This sets these children back in school and on dangerously uneven ground with their peers.”

Once outfitted with next generation Wi-Fi devices in their units, Housing Authority tenants can literally “cut the cord.” Students can use their Chromebooks for homework, tenants can use their devices for telemedicine and not worry about using up minutes. Doors will be opened to new job prospects.

Volo will also be providing a small army of Digital Ambassadors to coordinate and deliver over 700 hours of user education and equity activities – two hours of in-person, hands-on training for residents in each unit in the project area.

“To achieve true digital equity, a connection must be true, fast, broadband, and it must include local access via Wi-Fi, and the Wi-Fi service must be in-home and not require a trip to a public space like a library,” says Folk. “VCHAP will fix that—and many other digital equity issues—for hundreds of our most vulnerable neighbors.”

The Housing Authority buildings in the VCHAP project footprint are Providence at Thornberry, Crystal View, Crystal Highland Green, Pinewood Place, Douglas Square, and The Manor at Prairie Crossing.

“VCHAP will directly and profoundly impact hundreds of underserved families across our community,” says Steve Summers, Champaign County Executive. “This project will provide families with new and equitable opportunities for in-home education, online learning, job searches, remote work, healthcare needs, and more.”

He added that beyond the tenant walls of the HACC units, VCHAP will also benefit the broader community in a multitude of other ways, including creating a more equitable educational foundation, strengthening and broadening workforce and employment opportunities, and better driving the local economy.

Volo Internet + Tech is an Urbana-based internet service provider founded in 2001. Working and serving local, the company provides affordable and equitable options for great connectivity to the rural and urban Champaign County community. More information about Volo can be found at www.volo.net or by calling 217-367-8656.