Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania receives $20 million federal grant to close the digital divide
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Local recreation centers, libraries and workforce centers will be among those awarded $20 million to use for digital connectivity projects across Pennsylvania. The federal funds will provide Wi-Fi and technological resources to neighbors in the community.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker was joined in Philadelphia by Stephen Benjamin, former mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, now White House director for the Office of Public Engagement, and state lawmakers to announce how the funds will be used to help bridge the digital divide in Pa.
“What most of us took for granted pre pre-pandemic, [we] realized that digital infrastructure access to the internet was now 21st-century infrastructure. We all had to have it,” said Benjamin.
Benjamin, who attended the event at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center in North Philly on Friday, said the facility is one example of places that will benefit from the extra funds.
He spoke with WHYY News about the struggles many across the country face due to lack of Wi-Fi and technological resources.
“There’s still a significant number of households that do not have access to full-size devices. It’s very difficult to write a paper for school or apply for a job with a handheld phone, so making sure tablets and laptops are available to families are the other part of the puzzle. Also, making sure people have affordable access to the internet,” Benjamin said.
Under the new plan, rec centers similar to MLK could receive funds to purchase additional laptops and computers for neighbors to use for free.
Devices purchased with the funds will be available for use in home or public spaces, such as schools and libraries, through loan programs. The facilities will also be able to use the funds to provide digital literacy training for the community.
“It allows people working with libraries, working with workforce development centers, working with parks and rec centers to get full devices that are accessible to them to make sure they can live up to their god-given potential,” said Benjamin.
New moms now have more support with the statewide expansion of a mom-to-mom texting program through a nonprofit called NurturePA.
Six thousand moms in Allegheny County have used the free service since NurturePA started it in 2014. It’s now open to anyone in Pennsylvania who’s pregnant or caring for a child up to age five. Trained mentors, who are moms themselves, are paired with a new mom for anonymous, nonjudgmental texting support.
Sharon Welburn used the service with her firstborn child and loved having someone to vent to and learn from.
“I didn’t realize how common jaundice in babies was until my baby was jaundiced,” Welburn said. “I was panicking that I did something wrong, and then my mentor texted, ‘You’re OK. You’re not doing anything wrong. It’s something that sometimes happens. My kid had jaundice when they were born.’”
The trained mentors screen for postpartum depression eight times in the first year after the baby is born. NurturePA Executive Director Susan Crookston says the service is especially ideal for moms in rural areas who are further from support networks. She says for many new moms, having a baby can feel disorienting because so much changes.
“New baby, new everything,” Crookston said. “Your body is different … Every element of your life can be upended by a baby, and though it’s a wonderful and joyous experience, it’s also incredibly challenging.”
Nurture PA is also collecting parenting wisdom from moms across Pennsylvania to be shared across their platforms and in an art exhibit.
To share your words of wisdom or enroll in the free mom-to-mom texting service as a new mom or a mentor, go to the NurturePA website. And for more advice and local resources for new parents, go to Kidsburgh.org.
KDKA is proud to partner with kidsburgh.org.
A man died after the vehicle he was working on fell off jack stands in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, officials said.
Gage Alexander Rowe died on Monday afternoon following the fatal accident in a garage in Warsaw Township, CBS affiliate WTAJ reported.
Citing Jefferson County Coroner Greg Furlong, the news outlet reported that first responders were called to the garage on Milliron Road around 2 p.m. on Monday. Investigators reportedly said the 25-year-old man was working underneath a vehicle when the jacks holding up the vehicle gave out, killing him.
First responders were called to the home after family members became concerned when Rowe didn’t arrive at a gathering and was unreachable by phone, WTAJ reported.
The 25-year-old man’s cause of death was blunt force trauma, and it was ruled accidental. Authorities did not release any additional information.
An investigation is underway after a person’s body was found in a burned out vehicle on Tuesday, according to the Berks County Coroner’s Office.
Authorities were called to the 400 block of Friedensburg Road in Oley, Pennsylvania, around 9:43 a.m. on Tuesday, May 26 for reports of a van on fire, officials said.
Once the fire was put out, officials reported finding a person’s body in the back of the van so the Berks County Coroner was called to the scene.
The person has not yet been identified but an autopsy is scheduled for Thursday, May 28 to help authorities uncover more information.
The investigation into this case is ongoing.
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