Rep. Kathy Castor Spotlights Community Tech House And Its Goal Of Bridging The Digital Divide In Underserved Communities
Rep. Kathy Castor spotlighted Black-owned businesses in St. Petersburg, VA, on Juneteenth amid ongoing bureaucratic hurdles, such as limited access to capital, systemic bias, barriers to business networks, and discriminatory lending practices.
Castor led a bus tour on Thursday, organized with the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA), visiting local businesses, including Community Tech House, Successful Futures Tutoring Services, and Central Station Barbershop and Grooming, according to The St. Pete Catalyst.
“We want to spend our Juneteenth out there telling their stories and encouraging our neighbors to support them,” Castor said.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, exacerbating the digital divide in underserved communities, Lynn Harrell Johnson at Community Tech House repurposed her former salon into a tech hub.
She now teaches coding, web development, and digital literacy, offering free laptops to those committed to using them. Johnson has a goal to hire more passionate staff members, adding that she wants people to leave her workshops feeling like they “conquered their technology,” according to the outlet.
Competitive Readers Coalition Founder and Executive Director Antonio Brown uses his nonprofit to boost literacy among Black boys. Brown provides each child with 24 free books and haircuts a year through the Central Station Barbershop.
Additionally, he partners with local groups to support mental health, financial literacy, and coding for teens.
Successful Futures has grown from helping a few students to now tutoring 48 students. Founder Doretha Edwards said more funding would help her expand resources.
“We have to time them based on laptop usage and stuff like that,” Edwards told the Catalyst. “Right now, I’m paying bills, and that’s it. I’m not really earning a profit. It’s really hard, but it’s being done.”
Chris Hackney, president of small business lending at BayFirst Financial, noted that small business association (SBA) loans for Black entrepreneurs doubled under the Biden-Harris administration but are likely to decline due to new restrictions under the Trump-Vance administration.
He warned that underserved owners often resort to predatory online loans with high interest rates when they can’t get the necessary institutional funding.
“We’re leveraging (U.S) Rep. Castor to consult with the SBA on what changes need to stay and what changes need to go away – so that everyone has equal access to capital,” said Hackney, who joined the bus tour, the Catalyst reported.
