Canal Digital Equity Fund
About
A survey conducted in the summer of 2020 found that almost 60% of the respondents living in the Canal reported not owning a home computer. After partnering on the Canal WiFi Network, the project team recognized a need to do more to address the digital divide in San Rafael’s Canal neighborhood.
Canal Alliance, the County of Marin, San Rafael City Schools, and the City of San Rafael launched a fundraising effort to continue working to reduce the digital divide and decided to focus first on providing devices to people in the Canal who need them for educational purposes. By November 2020, the fund raised $16,000 and was used to purchase Chromebooks for students enrolled in Canal Alliance’s digital language courses.
Funds contributed will support digital literacy activities and the purchase of computers and hotspots to be distributed to families residing in the Canal neighborhood.