Comcast Gives Jones Center $10K To Support Digital Skills Training

CHICAGO HEIGHTS, IL — Comcast joined Chicago Heights Mayor David Gonzalez and Cook County District 5 Commissioner Monica Gordon Thursday to announce a $10,000 donation to the Harold Colbert Jones Memorial Community Center to support digital skills training for adults.

The Jones Center currently offers after-school digital skills programming for students through support from Comcast and this latest support will allow the organization to expand its programming for parents, adults and seniors. The training will be housed at the organization’s Lift Zone, which Comcast opened onsite in January 2021. Lift Zones offer free, high-capacity WiFi in community centers, along with access to digital skills training.

"For more than a decade, the Jones Center has been proud to partner with Comcast to help bridge the digital divide in our community," said Juana Morales, Jones Center Executive Director. "Comcast’s most recent donation will allow us to expand our digital skills trainings to help the kids and adults we serve participate and thrive in our digital world."

Comcast also announced the donation of 125 new laptops across five south suburban community-based organizations, including the Jones Center, Mentoring Youth Through Technology (Matteson), Path lights (Palos Heights), scaleLIT (Chicago Heights and Harvey) and St. Coletta’s of Illinois (Tinley Park).

These latest donations mark more than $200,000 in cash and in-kind donations Comcast made to south suburban Cook County non-profits in 2024 to support activities designed to help bridge the digital divide.

"As our world becomes increasingly digital, it is critical that government, the private sector and community-based organizations work together to bridge the digital divide," said Monica Gordon, Cook County District 5 Commissioner. "I appreciate Comcast’s ongoing investment in our communities and its long-standing commitment to advance digital equity."

Comcast has more than 1,250 Lift Zones nationwide and more than 50 in Cook County alone. In addition to the Jones Center, other South Suburban Cook County Lift Zones are located at the Cornerstone Community Development Corporation in Ford Heights, Mentoring Youth Through Technology in Matteson and the Richton Park Public Library. Lift Zones complement Comcast’s Internet Essentials program, a low-cost Internet adoption program for lower-income households, which has helped more than 10 million people across the country—nearly 2.2 million in Illinois—connect to the Internet at home since it launched in 2011.

"Comcast is deeply committed to creating and supporting digital equity in the communities we serve. For more than a decade, we’ve worked with many partners across the Chicago Southland— from libraries, school districts and elected officials to community-based organizations because addressing this critical issue takes collaboration," said Grace Hong Duffin, Vice President of External and Government Affairs, Comcast Greater Chicago Region.

"We’re proud of the progress we’ve made together and our continued partnerships to make digital equity a reality across our communities."

The donations announced Thursday are part of Project UP, Comcast’s $1 billion commitment to advance digital equity and help create a future of unlimited possibilities. For more information on Comcast’s digital equity efforts in Cook County, please click here.

About Harold Colbert Jones Memorial Community Center

Serving the community since 1917, the mission of Jones Center is to strengthen family ties, emphasize the worth of God’s children (all persons) and answer a community need.