{"id":7494,"date":"2026-03-04T06:40:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T06:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/missiontelecom.org\/?page_id=7494"},"modified":"2026-04-13T06:51:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T06:51:59","slug":"case-study-bridging-the-digital-divide","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/missiontelecom.org\/es\/case-study-bridging-the-digital-divide\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Study- Bridging the Digital Divide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ESTUDIO DE CASO<\/p>\n<h1>\n\t\t\tBridging the Digital Divide <br \/> for North Carolina Veterans\t<\/h1>\n<h3>\n\t\t\tProblema\t<\/h3>\n\tVeterans across rural North Carolina<br \/>\nfaced major barriers to digital access, including poor broadband coverage, limited digital literacy, and high administrative hurdles, leaving many unable to access telehealth, education, or employment resources.\n<h3>\n\t\t\tSoluci\u00f3n\t<\/h3>\n\t<p>AMREC delivered reliable, easy-to-use hotspots and tablets directly to veterans, supported by digital skills training and hands-on assistance. The result: a trusted, low-barrier program that empowers veterans to connect with services, community, and opportunities.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/missiontelecom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AMREC-Case-Study_Updated_Final.pdf\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDescargar caso pr\u00e1ctico\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<p>Through a pioneering collaboration with the Asheville Medical Research and Education Corporation (AMREC), Mission Telecom is helping transform the lives of veterans across North Carolina. What began as a connectivity and digital inclusion challenge evolved into a far-reaching support network-delivering telehealth access, digital literacy, and reliable connectivity to veterans across 23 North Carolina counties.<\/p>\n\t\t<ul>\n\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t<h3>&#8220;That single hotspot helped keep everything running. It made a huge difference.&#8221;<\/h3>&#8211; Sarah Friedman<br \/>\nProgram Manager, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs\n\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t<h3>&#8220;We have a lot of people who are eager to get online, but dealing with utilities can be a bureaucratic barrier. We needed something low-friction, fast, and trustworthy.&#8221;<\/h3>&#8211; Sarah Friedman<br \/>\nProgram Manager, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs\n\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t<h3>&#8220;I&#8217;m not an IT person, and I needed a partner who could step in for that. Mission Telecom taught me how to explain bandwidth and device limitations in plain language. They helped us to be more trustworthy.&#8221;<\/h3>&#8211; Sarah Friedman<br \/>\nProgram Manager, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs\n\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t<h3>&#8220;Some participants have never held a mouse before, but they&#8217;re eager to learn. It&#8217;s about confidence and connection.&#8221;<\/h3>&#8211; Sarah Friedman<br \/>\nProgram Manager, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs\n\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<h2>Datos clave<\/h2>\n<h3>\n\t\t\tCustomized Solutions for Digital Equity\t<\/h3>\n\tMission Telecom deployed hotspots<br \/>\nwithin days to ensure telehealth<br \/>\ncontinued for veterans.\n<h3>\n\t\t\tDedicated Customer Support\t<\/h3>\n\tPartnership with Mission Telecom helped<br \/>\nAMREC launch a successful connectivity<br \/>\nprogram across NC.\n<h3>\n\t\t\tReliable &#038; Affordable Connectivity\t<\/h3>\n\tTailored to meet specific grant<br \/>\nrequirements and the real-world needs of<br \/>\nveterans, Mission Telecom delivered<br \/>\ncustomized, unlimited high-speed data<br \/>\nand device packages.\n<h3>\n\t\t\tStrong Partnerships that Drive Impact\t<\/h3>\n\tMission Telecom strengthened North<br \/>\nCarolina&#8217;s digital equity network<br \/>\nby training staff, advancing digital literacy<br \/>\nprograms, and building trusted<br \/>\ncommunity relationships.\n<h2>\n\t\t\tConnecting a Hard-to-Reach Veteran Population\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>Sarah Friedman, a program manager at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs working through AMREC, leads an initiative supported by a grant from the North Carolina Department of IT.<\/p>\nThe program has three core pillars:<br \/>\n\u2022 Telehealth station deployment<br \/>\n\u2022 Digital literacy education<br \/>\n\u2022 Device and broadband distribution\n<p>Despite the broad scope, the mission is simple: serve any veteran living in North Carolina-regardless of discharge status, with a focus on the underserved and often-overlooked westernmost regions of the state.<\/p>\n<p>In many rural areas, traditional internet service is typically unavailable, unreliable, or unaffordable. Also, many veterans lacked the digital skills or confidence to access essential services like healthcare, online education, or workforce development tools. And while federal programs like the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) offered some relief, its eventual phase-out left a major gap.<\/p>\n<figure itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/missiontelecom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Rectangle-13-3.png\" alt=\"Rectangle 13 (3)\" height=\"675\" width=\"571\" title=\"Rectangle 13 (3)\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 571px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 571\/675;\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/missiontelecom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Rectangle-13-3.png 571w, https:\/\/missiontelecom.org\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2026\/04\/Rectangle-13-3-10x12.png.webp 10w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-original-sizes=\"(max-width: 571px) 100vw, 571px\" \/>\n\t<\/figure>\n\t<h2>Education &amp; Empowerment:  <br \/>Digital Literacy as a Foundation<\/h2>\n\t<p>Veterans receiving equipment are invited into two skillbuilding tracks: Learn to Earn or Pass to Earn. Participants work with Friedman to identify goals, take a Northstar digital literacy assessment, and then join six- to sevenweek in-depth classes focused on computer basics: turning on a device, using a mouse, managing files, etc. One veteran, a former manufacturing plant worker, drove from a distant county to attend classes after the plant closed. Thanks to Mission Telecom&#8217;s equipment and Northstar&#8217;s curriculum, he has begun developing skills for a new career.<\/p>\n<p>Another participant-a full-time caregiver who lost her job during the hurricane-used her hotspot and laptop to enroll in school. &#8220;She has had lots of starts and stops in the past, but with an internet-enabled device she can keep going because she knows she&#8217;ll have service,&#8221; says Friedman.<\/p>\n<h2>\n\t\t\tDigital Support that Meets People Where They Are\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>As the program&#8217;s first broadband provider, Mission Telecom quickly became a key partner. From the beginning, Mission Telecom&#8217;s team helped tailor a solution that fit both the grant structure and the realities on the ground. The nonprofit organization provided high-speed hotspots with unlimited data along with tablets to veterans who needed both access and devices. To date, the program has distributed 30 hotspots and 22 tablets to veterans throughout the region. Additionally, knowing that many veterans were wary of unfamiliar programs or burdensome fine print, the Mission Telecom team helped Friedman deliver excellent end-user support by establishing a direct phone line for veterans to get help, creating contracts with minimal legal language, and providing proactive account support, including check-ins and real-time troubleshooting.<\/p>\n<h2>\n\t\t\tVeteran-Centered Solutions, Made Possible by Partnership\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>&#8220;Mission Telecom is incredibly well known in North Carolina&#8217;s digital equity circles. I kept seeing their name in advocacy spaces, and now I know why,&#8221; says Friedman. &#8220;They&#8217;ve been flexible, responsive, and honest.&#8221; Whether supporting a digital navigator office hour, responding to a hurricane crisis, or empowering a caregiver to go back to school, Mission Telecom is helping to close the digital divide-not just with hardware, but with humanity.<\/p>\n<h2>\n\t\t\tEnabling Telehealth &#038; Transitional Housing Support\t<\/h2>\n\t<p>Veterans now can use Mission Telecom hotspots and evices to attend telehealth appointments and access care portals that might otherwise be out of reach. In one powerful example, Mission Telecom&#8217;s equipment came to the rescue in a transitional housing unit for male veterans after their previous facility was flooded. The new location had spotty internet despite a promised commercial line. A single Mission Telecom hotspot enabled the veteran to receive quality telehealth services while also serving as a shared connectivity option used by dozens of veterans, case workers, social workers, and administrative staff.<\/p>\n<figure itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/missiontelecom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Rectangle-163.png\" alt=\"Rectangle 163\" height=\"408\" width=\"571\" title=\"Rectangle 163\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 571px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 571\/408;\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/missiontelecom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Rectangle-163.png 571w, https:\/\/missiontelecom.org\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2026\/03\/Rectangle-163-18x12.png.webp 18w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-original-sizes=\"(max-width: 571px) 100vw, 571px\" \/>\n\t<\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CASE STUDY Bridging the Digital Divide for North Carolina Veterans Problem Veterans across rural North Carolina faced major barriers to digital access, including poor broadband coverage, limited digital literacy, and high administrative hurdles, leaving many unable to access telehealth, education, or employment resources. Solution AMREC delivered reliable, easy-to-use hotspots and tablets directly to veterans, supported&hellip;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7494","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Case Study- Bridging the Digital Divide - Mission Telecom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/missiontelecom.org\/es\/case-study-bridging-the-digital-divide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Case Study- Bridging the Digital Divide - Mission Telecom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CASE STUDY Bridging the Digital Divide for North Carolina Veterans Problem Veterans across rural North Carolina faced major barriers to digital access, including poor broadband coverage, limited digital literacy, and high administrative hurdles, leaving many unable to access telehealth, education, or employment resources. 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