March 2023

Palmetto Care Connections has reached an incredible milestone of training 1,000 graduates from its Digital Literacy program. This achievement is more than a number; it represents closing a digital divide in South Carolina’s rural communities, one life at a time.    

After participating in PCC’s Digital Literacy class, Ms. Vera Cribb reached out asking for her class photo so she could frame it. She proceeded to share how grateful she was for the course. Since then, she has been able to renew her license in health insurance and now has a job with Aflac, where she uses her computer and knowledge from the digital literacy class every day.   

While this story is unique to Cribb, she is not the only participant that has been positively impacted by PCC. 
 
“PCC has been blessed to be a part of providing Digital Literacy to the 13 rural counties in meeting this milestone,” said Tara Stokes, PCC’s digital inclusion coordinator. “Digital Literacy training began with our senior population but quickly became a need for adults of all ages.” 

The goal of this program is to help increase internet access and affordability and connect individuals to quality-of-life resources through digital literacy courses. The ability to reach 1,000 graduates is an achievement that celebrates technology and telehealth solutions being brought to rural South Carolina.  
  
“PCC is so proud to reach this milestone,” said Kathy Schwarting, chief executive officer of PCC. “We are so grateful to engage with our communities and assist them with better access to health care services. Education is the key to many of the problems we face every day, and this program is living proof!”  
  
While PCC has greatly affected 1,000 graduates through its Digital Literacy program, that same number has mutually changed the lives of its staff.  
 
“The impact has been instrumental in participants having better access to their healthcare providers, improving their education now that they have a digital device to go back to college, and self-confidence in a world that is quickly evolving to a digital world,” said Stokes. “I can personally say that these participants have impacted me in so many ways. They are awesome!”  

Source:  U.S. Department of The Treasury

To date, 34 states have been approved to invest approximately $5 billion of Capital Projects Funds, which those states estimate will reach more than 1.4 million locations

WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the approval of broadband projects in South Carolina under the Capital Projects Fund in President Biden’s American Rescue Plan. The state estimates it will use its funding to connect over 31,000 homes and businesses to affordable, high-speed internet. A key priority of the Capital Projects Fund program is to make funding available for reliable, affordable broadband infrastructure, advancing President Biden’s goal of affordable, reliable, high-speed internet for all Americans.

The Capital Projects Fund (CPF) provides $10 billion to states, territories, freely associated states, and Tribal governments to fund critical capital projects that enable work, education, and health monitoring in response to the public health emergency. In addition to the $10 billion provided by the CPF, many governments are using a portion of their State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) toward meeting the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of connecting every American household to affordable, reliable high-speed internet. Together, these American Rescue Plan programs and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are working in tandem to close the digital divide – deploying high-speed internet to those without access and lowering costs for those who cannot afford it.

“The pandemic upended life as we knew it and exposed the stark inequity in access to affordable and reliable high-speed internet in communities across the country, including rural, Tribal, and other underrepresented communities,” said Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo. “This funding is a key piece of the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic investments to increase access to high-speed internet for millions of Americans and provide more opportunities to fully participate and compete in the 21st century economy.”

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Source: Gray Communications/Channel 12/26

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Vice President Kamala Harris promoted the Biden administration’s achievements on broadband internet access during a visit to South Carolina, recently minted as the site of Democrats’ first presidential votes of the 2024 campaign.

In Monday’s trip, her fourth to the early-voting state since becoming vice president, Harris lauded more than $175 million being spent to help improve high-speed internet infrastructure at historically Black colleges and institutions, which she called “centers of academic excellence.”

“Many of those that we focus on currently do not have reliable access to high-speed internet on campus,” said Harris, herself a graduate of an HBCU. “This means that more students will be able to use the internet for their everyday needs.”

She said the investments “will be transformative because we know when we connect people with high-speed internet, we connect them with opportunity.”

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