Charter Communications said Wednesday that it has launched Spectrum Community Assist, a five-year, $30 million program to help revitalize community centers and invest in job training in rural and urban areas within its 41-state footprint.
Charter has pledged to improve 100 community centers impacting about 50,000 residents across the country by 2025, through financial support for job skills training programs, new technology and 1 gigabit high-speed internet service, as well as building refurbishments and repairs. The initiative kicks off on Sept. 18 at the Better Family Life Community Center in St. Louis, followed by similar events in Charlotte, North Carolina on Oct. 16 and in Stamford, Connecticut on Nov. 13.
Charter said it will partner with national and local nonprofit organizations to identify and improve community centers in underserved areas that are in need of support. The company also will invest in the centers’ job training efforts with cash grants and in-kind contributions, improve physical classroom spaces and provide new equipment, including laptops and furniture and provide its 1 Gbps internet service to each center.
“Community centers are hallmarks of our neighborhoods; people turn to these centers for support, shared experiences, and for help developing new job skills or finding employment,” Charter senior VP and chief diversity officer Rhonda Crichlow said in a press release. “Seven years ago, we set out to make a difference in our communities through Spectrum Housing Assist, which provided critical home repairs for low-income homeowners. Spectrum Community Assist is a natural evolution of that successful effort, extending our support for the communities we serve to local centers and organizations providing important programs and career development training.”
At Better Family Life, which provides short-term training to employment programs, in-demand industry certifications, job placement and retention services, call center representative classes and the possibility of micro loans for entrepreneurs looking to start their own small businesses, Charter employees and community volunteers will make physical improvements to the facility including painting, landscaping and light construction. In addition, Charter will provide a new smartboard, chairs and 25 new laptops for a newly refurbished classroom and will donate $50,000 to Better Family Life to support its career development programs.
More information on Charter’s philanthropic initiatives, including Spectrum Community Assist, is available here.
