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| Photo: Jasen Lee |
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| Ashley Lake uses a laptop to do homework at her home in Midvale on
Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Comcast’s Internet Essentials program offers
income-qualified households basic high-speed online service for $10 per
month. Having internet access at home allowed Machelle Lake's kids to
study whenever needed, and it gave her the ability to search for — and
eventually find — a job. After using the $10 monthly program for two
years, the family was able to transition to regular broadband service,
she said. Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News |
For Machelle Lake, giving her four children the best opportunity for academic success has always been a high priority.
But as a single mother, that's often proved challenging, especially with few financial resources to help pay for a "luxury" like home internet service.
A program aimed at helping low-income families and individuals in Utah connect to the online world has provided a means for Lake's family and others take advantage of opportunities made available through ready online access.
Lake is one of more than 64,000 Utahns who have enrolled in Comcast’s Internet Essentials program, which offers income-qualified households basic high-speed online service for $10 per month.
Lake, 50, said she was unemployed when she signed up for the service at her Midvale home, knowing she needed to get connected if she's going to improve her life and those of her children.
"My two youngest kids were on free or reduced lunch, so we were able to get (internet service) and purchase a laptop as well," she said.
In addition to the basic internet service (15 megabits per second), Comcast offers customers refurbished laptop computers for $150, something that has made a big difference in Lake's household, she said.
"I had a child in high school, junior high and two in elementary school," Lake said. "In high school, so much of the student's and teacher's curriculum is online. Without the computer at home, my kids would have to go to the library to do their homework or at the Boys and Girls Club."
Having internet access at home has allowed Lake's kids to study whenever needed, and it gave her the ability to search for — and eventually find — a job. After using the $10 monthly program for two years, the family was able to transition to regular broadband service, she said.
"Had we not had that, my kids educational (achievement) would have been lower," Lake said. "If we couldn't have accessed (homework) assignments at night, then they would have missed out on those assignments. They were able to stay on track with their classmates."
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Source: Deseret News
