世界杯官方app ambassadors fill the digital gap for San Antonio’s West Side residents

Elena's Cafe owner Elena Gomez Peña (middle) worked with the 世界杯官方app Digital Inclusion Ambassadors to acquire government assistance for her employees. Here, she poses for a photo in front of her restaurant with ambassadors Mariana Arredondo (left) and Jazmin Arroyo (right).

2021年11月22日 Located in a vital corridor of activity in a historically underrepresented community, the 世界杯官方app Westside Community Center is connecting human intellectual and economic capacity to empower the lives of the people it serves.

The center’s latest effort involves bridging the digital divide of residents living in the heart of San Antonio’s West Side. 学生领导小组, 被称为数字共融大使, serve as a model for community engaged scholarship—working to improve digital literacy in a community that lacks amenities common to other neighborhoods.

在…的指导下 Roger Enriquez, executive director of Westside Community Partnerships, and 世界杯官方app public administration professor Chris Reddick, the ambassadors embed themselves within the community to help residents with their technological needs.

“We have a unique opportunity to help identify and bridge digital literacy gaps and improve people’s lives by unleashing the enormous potential of the internet,恩里克斯解释道.

“We have a unique opportunity to help identify and bridge digital literacy gaps and improve people’s lives.”

The initiative is based on a 2020 digital inclusion survey conducted by Enriquez, Reddick和世界杯官方app政策研究中心的一组研究人员说, in partnership with the City of San Antonio’s Office of Innovation and Bexar County Commissioner’s Court.

The survey, 哪些有助于确定所需的资源, 还发现宽带连接, device access and digital competency were significantly lagging in San Antonio’s West Side District 5 compared to the rest of the county.

Socioeconomic status and the Spanish-English language barrier are among the primary drivers for the digital divide in District 5, 因此，大使们为那些需要的人提供了上网的途径, 以及在互联网搜索方面的双语协助, 在线研究, 在线获取和申请社会服务, troubleshooting, printing, copying, 扫描和有关互联网安全和隐私的课程.

The West Side’s small business owners represent an entrepreneurial spirit that has been historically underserved. The ambassadors also work to bridge that gap by providing support to area businesses.

埃琳娜的咖啡馆老板 Elena Gomez Peña 曾在世界杯官方app小企业发展中心工作, which guided her through the Paycheck Protection Program financial aid application process. 世界杯官方app生物学学生和数字大使 乔纳森Sheppard-Udoh then set up a profit and loss summary spreadsheet for Elena’s Café that allowed Gomez Peña to track her total income, purchases, gross profit, 净利润和年度总费用.

“I am so grateful for the help I received from 世界杯官方app students because I was able to keep my doors open by finding needed government assistance for my employees,戈麦斯Peña说.

世界杯官方app校友和数字大使 Caitlyn Deleon ’21 assisted clients with items like computer setup and internet safety, while David Rios ’21 worked with others to break down their own psycho-social barriers to using the internet.

“我很高兴看到社区如何, 特别是老年人, are wanting to learn—to become familiar with modern technology is inspiring,” Deleon said. “It’s very rewarding to know that the help they receive here at the center will improve their quality of life.”

Seeing the personal impact that the students have on the community is a true inspiration to Enriquez and everyone involved with the initiative.

“我们希望这件事成为utsa的个人问题，而不仅仅是领导层的问题, 但是在部门层面上, 一直到个人, faculty, 学生甚至教职工, 所以每个人都把这看作是我们大学的使命,” Enriquez said.

— 英格丽·赖特和谢伊·康纳