Berkeley County opens first of 5 community resource hubs
BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - The Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce celebrated the opening Thursday of their first community resource hub to help provide access to computer workspaces and free Wi-Fi.
The center is located in the Keith School Museum off Clements Ferry Road. It features computers with webcams, printers, eight Chromebooks, and desks for visitors to use.
Users will have access to telehealth and online education services, substance abuse resources, and training on how to use these devices as many may not know how to use them. There will also be someone at the facility assisting when needed.
Berkeley County Chamber President Todd Buddin says that this has been in the works since 2015 and that it’s important to have these hubs for the communities that need access to these resources.
“To be able to bring these facilities to these communities, it’s life-changing,” Buddin says. “We’ve got Daniel Island and it’s a really nice community, but sometimes we forget about Cross and Saint Stephen and some of those places that, you know, honestly, might not have running water, may not have some of this stuff that other places have.”
He says this is just one of five resource hubs they plan to open in the Berkeley County area. The other four community resource hub locations will be at the Cross Community Center, Tri-Community Center, Alvin Recreation Center, and Wassamassaw Recreation Center. Buddin says they plan to have the rest open in the next few months.
He says he thinks the state wants to have more resource hubs like this in all of the other counties, and that even though Berkeley County was the first he thinks the idea will spread across the state quickly.
Berkeley County School Board member Yvonne Bradley says she represents the Cross Community Center, which is the site of one of the future hubs, and that the community doesn’t have an excuse anymore for getting access to these resources.
“The Wi-Fi is there, so they have access to the broadband internet. There is no excuse,” Bradley says. “The computers are there. They now have the Chromebooks, so all they have lacking is the knowledge, so this hub will provide the knowledge they need and there is no excuse now. You ask the question; you get an immediate answer. There will be trainees and volunteers who will be able to give you what you need right then and there on the spot.”
Google’s head of Southeast external affairs and government relations, Lilyn Hester, says with everything being online now, there is a digital divide issue that needs to be addressed. She says that Google is excited to partner with the Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce to be able to provide Chromebooks for these hubs so people can access things like online health services and find job opportunities.
“Getting online is very important because everything is online, it’s very key, but we do not want to leave anyone behind when it comes to getting online,” Hester says.
The resource hubs are open for everyone to use, not just Berkeley County residents.
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