Civic housing authority to receive grant

WASHINGTON (KRQE) - Santa Fe Civic Housing Authority was one of 23 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act investments announced Tuesday to help bridge the technological divide, boost economic growth, create jobs and improve education and healthcare cross the country.

The grants will increase broadband access and adoption in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

The grants, totaling more than $160 million, will lay the groundwork to bring high-speed Internet access to millions of households and businesses, and link up thousands of schools, hospitals, libraries, and public safety offices to the information superhighway.

Santa Fe Civic Housing Authority will receive a $176,000 public computer center grant with an additional $52,000 applicant-provided match to expand the capacity of one public computer center and create an additional public computer center at two public housing sites, offering broadband access and computer training to low-income families, minorities, disadvantaged youth, disabled, and elderly Santa Fe residents.

The project expects to add 13 new broadband workstations and replace seven workstations, enabling the centers to increase the number of users served per week from 27 to 135.

Fact sheets with further information about all BTOP grants are available on the NTIA web site here: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants/projects.html

Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) provides grants to support the deployment of broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas, enhance and expand public computer centers, and encourage sustainable adoption of broadband service.