Charter Communications on Sept. 15 announced the launch of Spectrum Community Assist, a $30 million, five-year philanthropic initiative to revitalize community centers in rural and urban areas, and invest in job training programs in underserved communities across the company's 41-state footprint.
Via the new initiative, by 2025, Charter will improve 100 centers across the country, impacting an estimated 50,000 local residents, including through financial support for job skills training programs, new technology and 1 gigabit high-speed internet service, as well as building refurbishments and repairs.
Charter kicked off the program on Sept. 18 at the Better Family Life Community Center in St. Louis, followed by similar events in Charlotte next month and Stamford in November.
Through Spectrum Community Assist, Charter will partner with national and local nonprofit organizations to identify and improve community centers in underserved areas in need of support. At each center, revitalization events with employee and community volunteers will be held to repair and enhance the physical buildings.
As part of Charter's ongoing commitment, 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. Additionally, because broadband is a critical component of a community center's infrastructure, Charter will offer each community center its advanced 1 gigabit internet service.
"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," said Rhonda Crichlow, Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer for Charter, which operates the Spectrum brand of internet, TV, mobile and voice services.
Crichlow added, "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."
As cited by the operator, currently 8.4 million Americans are unemployed, according to the U.S. Department of Labor and an estimated 17 million U.S. workers may need to transition to new jobs in the post-pandemic world, per a McKinsey Global Institute February 2021 study.
Charter said its $25 million investment, plus $5 million of in-kind contributions over the next five years will directly benefit these organizations working to address this urgent need while improving lives and strengthening the economic fabric of the communities where Charter operates.
Charter launches Spectrum Community Assist in St. Louis
As mentioned above, Charter kicked off its Spectrum Community Assist program in St. Louis on Sept. 18 with an event at Better Family Life, a nonprofit community service agency that 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.
Physical improvements to the agency to be completed by Charter employees and community volunteers include painting, landscaping and light construction. Charter's investment also will provide a new smartboard, chairs and 25 new laptops for a newly refurbished classroom, which will be unveiled as the Spectrum Training and Technology Center.
Additionally, Charter will donate $50,000 to Better Family Life to support its career development programs, which will enable more individuals to take advantage of the center's job training offerings. Additional support will be provided to ensure connectivity through the company's advanced suite of Spectrum broadband services.
Following the St. Louis event, Charter will sponsor Spectrum Community Assist events with community partners in several other markets throughout 2021, including Charlotte on Oct. 16 and Stamford on Nov. 13, with additional revitalization projects planned for 2022 and beyond. For more information, visit https://corporate.charter.com/community-impact.