City of Bloomington Awards $55,000 in Digital Opportunity Grants to 14 Local Nonprofits

The City of Bloomington Information & Technology Services (ITS) Department has awarded a total of $55,000 in Digital Opportunity Grants to 14 Bloomington-based nonprofit organizations working to increase residents’ access to digital resources.

Now in its sixth year, this grant program began as part of an initiative to help Bloomington recover from the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and bridge the digital divide. The grants are funded through the ITS Department’s annual budget.

“When we invest in digital access, we’re investing in our community’s overall quality of life, because it’s a prerequisite to staying connected in today’s digital age,” said Mayor Kerry Thomson. “We’re proud of this initiative, the partnerships it builds, and the value it brings to our neighbors.”

This year’s Digital Opportunity Grant recipients include:

• American Legion Auxiliary – Teach 4 Vets – $4,000
• Area 10 Agency on Aging – Creating Digital Literacy Opportunities for Monroe & Owen County Seniors – $3,000
• BinaryHeart Inc. – BinaryHeart at IU Digital Opportunity Expansion  – $7,300
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Bloomington – Bee Safe Online 2025-2026– $2,000
• Courage to Change Sober Living – Wi-Fi Access Sober Living Residences – $1,800
• El Centro Comunal Latino/La Central Latina – Website development for El Centro Comunal Latino – $2,500
• Housing Authority of the City of Bloomington – Digital Opportunity Empowerment: Self-Sufficiency Through Digital Access – $7,000
• Monroe County Community School Corporation – Expanding Internet Access for Monroe County Low Income Students – $7,500
• Monroe County Public Library – Enhancing the Circulating iPad Collection at Monroe County Public Library – $9,300
• My Sisters Closet of Monroe County – Digital Access and Education to Women Living in Poverty Who are Job Seekers – $4,200
• New Leaf, New Life – Enhancing Digital Access & Security – $1,000
• Pantry 279 – Client Technology Help Desk – $1,200
• Pathways – Maintaining Digital Resource Accessibility and Digital Needs Funding – $3,000
• Sojourn House – Digital Independence Outreach – $1,200

"This is the sixth year the City has invested in Digital Opportunity initiatives, and we’re thrilled to see so many organizations committed to advancing digital opportunity in our community," said Asia Abang, Digital Opportunity Specialist. "This year, we received our largest-ever cohort of applications—19 in total, requesting nearly $160,000. I’m excited to see how these dedicated nonprofits work to close the digital divide in the year ahead."         

The Digital Opportunity Grants program sought proposals from nonprofits for projects that build capacity in the community to bridge the digital divide in the following ways:  

• Facilitating access to affordable broadband services;
• Increasing access to computing devices to use the internet effectively;
• Cultivating the knowledge, familiarity, and digital skills needed to secure the benefits of the internet and digital technology;
• Mitigating community digital access gaps identified in the City's Digital Opportunity Strategic Plan.

About Digital Opportunity

Digital Opportunity is defined by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance as “a condition in which all individuals and communities have the information technology capacity needed for full participation in our society, democracy, and economy.” 

The City of Bloomington and mStreet Fiber continue to collaborate on a groundbreaking digital opportunity program, one of the most innovative broadband public-private collaborations in the country, to help low-income and digitally disadvantaged households access top-quality internet services.

Bloomington has been recognized by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance 2021-2024 as a Digital Inclusion Trailblazer. Learn more about the City of Bloomington’s Digital Opportunity program at bloomington.in.gov/digital-opportunity.