2024 Community Challenge Grantee: Open Works

The isolation experienced by many seniors is exacerbated in parts of Baltimore, where a large segment of the population lacks broadband access. According to the 2018 American Community Survey, over 40 percent of Baltimore's households did not have internet, cable, fiber, or digital subscriber line service.

Open Works, a proactive 501(c)(3) nonprofit makerspace in Baltimore City, is focused on "making tools, technology, and the knowledge to use them accessible to all," said Executive Director Will Holman. The nonprofit had already started addressing Baltimore's digital divide by building a network of 12 outdoor 'benches' with solar canopies that power wi-fi and device-charging stations in the city.

To address the need to improve digital access to prepare for and respond to emergencies while reducing the impact of disasters for seniors in Baltimore, Open Works collaborated with GEDCO, a nonprofit started by seven pastors of various denominations, to address the housing, employment, and living needs of Baltimore residents. Out of this partnership came the Baltimore Community Connectivity Project—the name of the free solar-powered, wi-fi, and device charging stations initiative overseen by Open Works.

Stadium Place, an affordable housing community with 450 residents aged 50 and older, is located on the former site of a baseball stadium. Holman said the location "has terrible broadband access," and this population is particularly vulnerable. The Stadium Place campus also hosts a YMCA, ballfields, a daycare center, and a hospice facility.

"When a major storm occurs, causing power outages, the fallout, particularly during a heat wave, hits seniors and communities of color the hardest," Holman said.

Open Works applied for an AARP Community Challenge Grant to fund the development of two solar-powered benches for the Stadium Place community. The benches will be independently powered, using 5G routers, providing resilient communications and power infrastructure after a disaster.

Ultimately, Open Works will provide technology training to the seniors in Stadium Place. While commercial organizations are working to expand digital access to communities in need, said Holman, "as a nonprofit, we're trying to keep the benefit in the community."