Students in need will be able to receive free phones and tablets at the LAC Viking Vault on Thursday.
Students who are eligible for federal aid or other student aid programs such as CalWorks or EOPS are among those who qualify for a phone or tablet.
Those who need a device must come with a valid state or federal I.D. as well as a physical copy of their state benefits card. Student I.D.s will not be considered a valid form of identification.
The devices are free, but there is an $11 activation fee, which will give the user up to five years of internet access.
In collaboration with LBCC’s Basic Needs Program, Cortez Hollis and Sophia Weston, who work on behalf of Outreach Program Services of America, will be manning a booth outside the Viking Vault where students can go pick up a device.
According to Hollis, one can qualify either for a phone, tablet or both based upon need.
Unlike many technology-loan programs on campus, students do not have a time limit with their device.
“The great thing is they don’t have to give (the device) back, they have it for life,” Hollis said.
Hollis and Weston will also be at LAC on April 18 during the Veterans Services fair to give and set up devices for students.
Vanessa Morales, an employee for LAC’s Viking Vault, has noted that many students who come to the vault are often in need of a device for their school work.
“I hope (the program visits) stay consistent, because we have had people walk through our doors and ask when they will come back,” Morales said.
According to Weston, the two have distributed and set up devices for students at various different colleges across Orange and L.A. county for the last year and a half, having served hundreds of students at LBCC in particular.
Now more than ever, the hybridization of digital and physical spaces continues, with many important services such as registering for housing assistance, food assistance or even tuition assistance streamlining their application process to be entirely online.
With many students at LBCC living below or slightly above the poverty line, programs such as Hollis and Weston’s can help students by alleviating some of the pressures often associated with seeking higher education.