Capitol Hill’s Miller Community Center will soon be an even more useful neighborhood asset for meetings and events. All 26 of the Seattle Parks community centers are about to get tricked out with wireless internet as part of the new Digital Equity Initiative:

In tandem with Mayor Ed Murray’s Digital Equity Initiative, Google is working to bridge Seattle’s digital divide with $344,000 in grants that will bring free WiFi to Seattle community centers and affordable housing projects.  At least 15 percent of Seattle residents have no Internet service at home. Among Seattle’s lowest income residents and immigrant communities the numbers are even higher, according to the City of Seattle’s Technology Access & Adoption study.

“Too many Seattle residents have no regular access to the Internet, and find themselves disconnected from the wealth of educational and community resources the Internet offers,” said Darcy Nothnagle, head of external affairs for the NW at Google. “These grants aim to help bring access to those who need it most.”

Through the grant, Seattle Housing Authority will provide internet to 800 very low income K-12 students and their families who live in SHA housing. The residents served by the project are among those whose studies show are the most technology disadvantaged and disconnected. The project will focus on providing connectivity to students in grades K-12 in the NewHolly, High Point, Rainier Vista, Lake City Court and Yesler Terrace communities.

Google is also providing funding for WiFi at all 26 Seattle Parks and Recreation Community Centers, enabling access for public meetings and events, classes, and digital civic engagement and learning programs. The funding will also go towards the replacement of 31 outdated and obsolete computers at five RecTech Community Technology Labs – located in the Delridge, Rainier, Rainier Beach, South Park and Yesler Terrace community centers – which are used for digital literacy training and youth programs.

As part of the initiative, Comcast has dropped its prices for internet service for residents in public housing, KUOW reports. One element that won’t be part of the initiative’s thrust is municipal broadband. A 2015 touted by the mayor’s office concluded that the service was too expensive for Seattle to build without a private partner.

You can read more about the Digital Equity Initiative here via seattle.gov.