Low-income Village residents eligible for internet assistance

Comcast announced earlier this month it is expanding eligibility for Internet Essentials, its broadband adoption program, to include all qualified low-income households in its service area. In the Manchester area, the Comcast Service area includes the Village of Manchester and a few isolated areas along the outside edges of the townships. 

The expansion is the most significant change in the program’s history, doubling the total number of previously eligible households. Since August 2011, Internet Essentials has connected more two million households to the Internet at home.

To be eligible to apply to the program, low-income applicants simply need to show they are participating in one of more than a dozen different government assistance programs. These include: Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). A full list of these programs can be found at www.internetessentials.com. The Company already accepts applications from households that have a student eligible to participate in the National School Lunch Program, live in public housing or receive HUD Housing Assistance, including Section 8 vouchers, or participate in the Veterans Pension Program, as well as low-income seniors and community college students in select pilot markets.

Internet Essentials includes: multiple options to access free digital literacy training in print, online, and in person, the option to purchase an Internet-ready computer for less than $150; and low-cost, high-speed internet service for $9.95 a month plus tax. For more information, or to apply for the program in seven different languages, please visit www.internetessentials.com or call 1-855-846-8376. Spanish-only speakers can also call 1-855-765-6995.

People can contact the Community Resource Center to see if they are eligible for any of the listed low-income assistance programs (ie. SNAP, free/reduced cost school lunches, etc) at 734-428-7722.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.