Breaking The Barrier

An educational program for the public is launched to encourage low-income California families to discover the advantages of the internet at home. They are already legion which could not live even one only day without internet, but to many others, the circumstances have kept them disconnected in perpetuity. For this reason, yesterday it was launched Get Connected, a statewide initiative to achieve that more people have access to the services on the network in California. The figures are revealing: only 34 percent of latinos have internet access in California against 55 per cent of the general population that has service in your home. Only in Los Angeles, a city marked by media, entertainment and innovation, 52 per cent has no connection to the network by disabilities, barriers of languages, poverty or by simple fear to understand the technology, said Sunne Wright McPeak, President of the emerging technology fund of California (CETF, by its acronym in English). With the presentation on the youth technology center of Boyle Heights, an area to the East of L.a.

Hispanic majority and families with limited resources, the campaign relies on bringing internet to people who don’t know it for lack of preparation or low-income. The programme places emphasis on the advantages that can lead to seek work through the computer, check your bank accounts or simply send an email to have better communication. There are people who think that connect to the internet costs 60 or 80 dollars a month, but it is not true, explains Raquel Cinat, Associate Vice-President of CETF. The truth is that those 15 or 20 dollars per month which is paid by the service are an incredible for your family investment. The campaign will bring this initiative people through free fairs in different areas which offer courses on how to surf the net in a very basic way to computers and broadband services companies incentives.

In addition they will be commercial on radio and television both in Spanish and in English. The locations of the fairs of community connection include Boyle Heights, East of Los Angeles, San Gabriel Valley, South of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pico Union (City Centre) and the San Fernando Valley. The first fair be held on Saturday, June 13 at Centre technological youth in Boyle Heights from 10 in the morning to two in the afternoon.