Code 313 looking to connect families in need with computers for school

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Code 313's partnership with Detroit's STEM Academy Headquarters connects students with technology, and that mission is adapting now to make sure kids have the technology they need at home. 

Code 313 is a nonprofit organization that has been providing hands-on educational training for kids using cutting-edge technology. But now they're getting back to basics as well.

"Most of the schools are going virtual and most of the time you have more than one child at home and you're in need of a computer or a device to get online to do your school work," said Code 313's executive director Bartel Welch. 

Code 313 is providing access to affordable computers by partnering with Microsoft and Human IT. The machines are being targeted towards underserved students, parents and school districts that may be having a hard time getting what they need. 

"The access to computers has been very limited. A lot of districts and people across the whole world are buying up all the stock to computers right," Welch said.

About 27% of Detroiters are without internet access and about 20% of households rely on cell phones to get online. It's a technological divide that's been only more exposed during the pandemic.

"It's been very challenging, of course, since the pandemic. It's really exposed the digital divide," Welch said.

Each Microsoft Surface Go 2 Educational Edition is $350 with a keyboard and 25,000 units are available - and Welch just found out his organization now has access to several thousand Chrome books at $225 each. Even though there is a price Welch says much of that can be covered by federal funding when the devices are purchased by the school district.

"You can't find them online right now, you can't go into the store and purchase them," he says.

Code 313 just wrapped up a summer camp with 650 about kids, an unintended positive consequence of the pandemic. If they had been in-person he would only have been able to accommodate about 100 students but were able to expand greatly from a digital perspective.

For more information about getting connecting with technology, the internet or digital training from Code 313, click here.