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WUNC's American Graduate Project is part of a nationwide public media conversation about the dropout crisis. We'll explore the issue through news reports, call-in programs and a forum produced with UNC-TV. Also as a part of this project we've partnered with the Durham Nativity School and YO: Durham to found the WUNC Youth Radio Club. These reports are part of American Graduate-Let’s Make it Happen!- a public media initiative to address the drop out crisis, supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and these generous funders: Project Funders:GlaxoSmithKlineThe Goodnight Educational FoundationJoseph M. Bryan Foundation State FarmThe Grable FoundationFarrington FoundationMore education stories from WUNC

In Durham, Hundreds Of Low-Income Families Will Get Internet Access

An image of a person typing on a computer
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In an effort to bridge the digital divide, the Obama administration has selected Durham, as well as 26 other cities and a tribal nation, to help connect more public housing residents to high-speed internet.

About 800 Durham children and their families will receive internet access under the federal initiative, ConnectHome, announced U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro on Thursday.

“We know that this is not a definitive solution to the digital divide, but it's a strong start,” Castro said at the announcement in Durham.

Castro said less than half of America’s lowest-income households have a home internet subscription, and nearly one-third do not own a computer.

Google Fiber has pledged to offer free Internet service to some Durham families in public housing and other low-income developments. Through ConnectHome, Durham will also work with groups like the American Library Association, PBSand College Board to offer free digital literacy training, educational tools and devices, Castro said.

The federal government is partnering with public and private sectors to expand broadband access, a move that will impact about 800 Durham children living in about 2,000 housing units.
Credit Reema Khrais
Young students explore the Internet during Julian Castro's announcement in Durham Thursday.

“We hope that because of this effort more young people will do well on those third-grade reading tests, more of them will have the tools to succeed and graduate from high school, and go onto college, and be able to achieve their dreams,” Castro said.

Twenty-nine year-old Ashley Canady, a Durham mother, said home internet access would save her a lot of time and energy, especially when her kids have school research projects.

“Cause the library is not close to at all. We walk a lot, and when you have three kids it becomes a hassle,” she explained.

Overall, the pilot program will offer free internet connections or affordable broadband hookups for 275,000 households, including 200,000 children nationwide. In Durham, about 2,000 households will be affected. 

Reema Khrais joined WUNC in 2013 to cover education in pre-kindergarten through high school. Previously, she won the prestigious Joan B. Kroc Fellowship. For the fellowship, she spent a year at NPR where she reported nationally, produced on Weekends on All Things Considered and edited on the digital desk. She also spent some time at New York Public Radio as an education reporter, covering the overhaul of vocational schools, the contentious closures of city schools and age-old high school rivalries.
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