In September last month, Figgers Foundation distributed 300 tablets at the Lauderhill Point Community Center. Days earlier, families picked up devices at Brown’s Temple Ministry in Pompano Beach. Before that, the Foundation gave away 200 tablets in Miramar and held distributions at Mount Calvary Baptist Church and the CommunityCare Health & Wellness Expo in West Palm Beach.
Each of these events is part of Florida Connect, the Foundation’s program to close the digital divide. Florida Connect now reaches 18 communities across the state, connecting low-income Floridians with the devices they need for school, job searches, health care and essential online services.
Why closing the digital divide in rural Florida matters
Florida’s unconnected households are spread across both urban neighborhoods and remote rural counties. Rural families face longer distances and fewer resources. Because reaching them costs more per household, many technology programs pass them by.
Florida Connect takes the opposite approach. The program intentionally prioritizes rural counties, so access is driven by need, not geography or population size.
Who benefits from free tablets in Florida
Florida Connect serves students, seniors, job seekers and low-income households. These groups often overlap. A grandmother raising her grandchild while looking for work, for example, may qualify in several ways.
Children with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) are a priority. Many IEPs promise accommodations such as text-to-speech, adjustable displays and recorded instruction. Without a device at home, those accommodations exist only on paper. A tablet turns those plans into daily help.
How Florida Connect reaches families and seniors
Rather than asking residents to travel to a pickup site, Florida Connect partners with schools, nursing homes, foster homes and residential facilities to deliver tablets where people already are. For foster children, seniors with limited mobility and residents without transportation, this approach makes digital access possible.
Where Florida Connect makes a difference
Florida Connect serves 17 counties plus the community of Immokalee in Collier County. Immokalee is listed separately because the Foundation’s outreach in Collier County focuses on that community specifically.
The 17 counties: Broward, Calhoun, DeSoto, Dixie, Flagler, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Hamilton, Hardee, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Levy, Liberty, Madison and Okeechobee.
Broward represents the program’s urban reach. Most of the other service areas are among Florida’s smallest and most rural counties, where a single library may serve an entire county and the nearest public computer can be miles away.
A growing record of community impact
The Figgers Foundation has held tablet distributions at churches, schools, senior centers, housing complexes and community events across Florida. These have reached students, seniors, families and children of incarcerated parents.
At a recent distribution at Brown’s Temple Ministry in Pompano Beach, a mother named Tessa, a registered nurse disabled by cancer, received tablets for her children. “Something that may seem small to someone else means so much to us,” she wrote afterward.
How to apply for a free tablet in Florida
There is no central application office to visit. Residents in the 18 service areas can follow these steps:
- Identify your category. Florida Connect serves students, seniors, job seekers and low-income households. Many people fit more than one.
- Connect through your institution. The program delivers devices through schools, nursing homes, foster homes and residential living facilities, so start by asking yours.
- Contact the Figgers Foundation for details on upcoming distributions in your area. Call 1-800-391-2803, email Info@FiggersFoundation.org or visit figgersfoundation.org/floridaconnect.