Massachusetts Helps Residents Build Digital Skills and Access the Internet with $1.5 Million Grant

The Healey-Driscoll Administration and the Massachusetts Broadband Institute, a division of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, announced $1,492,571 in awards to 10 public and affordable housing organizations to help residents access the internet, learn digital skills, and make practical use of online tools in their daily lives. MBI funded the grant through the Retrofit Ancillary Grantee program, a statewide effort to increase digital literacy and internet adoption for this community. The RANGE program serves households that have received upgraded internet service through the Residential Retrofit Program—an initiative focused on modernizing broadband infrastructure in public and affordable housing properties across Massachusetts. Building on its first award announcement in March, the RANGE program has distributed $8.9 million to 45 housing organizations statewide. The U.S. Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund supports the RANGE program through the American Rescue Plan Act.