Digital Inclusion Week: Comcast and Mary’s Place Empower Families

As we celebrate Digital Inclusion Week 2025, we’re reminded that access to technology is no longer a luxury—it’s a lifeline. This year’s theme, Community-Driven Digital Futures, resonates deeply with Comcast’s mission to ensure every individual has the tools and support they need to thrive in today’s digital world. One of the most powerful examples of this commitment is our enduring partnership with Mary’s Place, a Seattle-based nonprofit that provides shelter and services to families experiencing homelessness.

A Decade of Impact: Comcast + Mary’s Place

For over nine years, Comcast has worked hand-in-hand with Mary’s Place to advance digital opportunity for families in crisis. What began as a shared vision has grown into a robust collaboration that includes:

• Free WiFi Lift Zones in five Mary’s Place shelters across King County, giving families access to online resources for education, job training, housing searches, and more.
• Digital kiosks installed at emergency shelters and the Allen Family Center, designed with universal symbols and multilingual support to help guests navigate services with confidence.
• Technology grants, including a recent $40,000 donation to provide laptops, phones, and software to families transitioning into stable housing.  

These tools aren’t just about connectivity—they’re about empowerment. They help parents apply for jobs, children complete homework, and families stay connected to vital services. They also support Mary’s Place staff with real-time data, improving efficiency and care delivery.

Stories of Hope and Progress

At the heart of this partnership are the families whose lives have been transformed. One mother shared how access to a digital kiosk helped her schedule medical appointments and find legal aid while caring for her children. Another family used the Lift Zone WiFi to attend virtual job interviews and secure employment. These stories reflect the real-world impact of digital inclusion—and the dignity it restores.

Project UP: A Broader Commitment

Comcast’s work with Mary’s Place is part of Project UP, our $1 billion initiative to advance digital opportunity nationwide. Through Lift Zones, digital literacy programs, and community partnerships, we’re building pathways to economic mobility and inclusion for all.

Looking Ahead

As we mark Digital Inclusion Week, we reaffirm our commitment to closing the digital divide. We’re proud to stand with Mary’s Place and countless other organizations working to ensure that technology uplifts, connects, and empowers—especially for those who need it most.

Together, we’re not just building networks. We’re building futures.

About Mary’s Place

Since 1999, Mary’s Place has helped thousands of women and families move out of homelessness into more stable situations.

They do this in three ways:

With two emergency family shelters in King County, we keep families together, inside, and safe when they have no place else to go, providing resources, housing and employment services, community, and hope. 

Each day, our housing team works with families to address barriers and empower parents to build family stability, secure housing, and prepare for employment. Kids are connected with schools, participate in fun and enriching activities, and go on outings and adventures in Kids Club. In the evening, families in shelter eat dinner, do homework, spend time together, and prepare for the week ahead. Our families include two-parent families (pregnant or with children), single parents of all genders (pregnant or with children), extended families, and families with pets!

Children with life-threatening illnesses should not be living in cars and tents awaiting chemo or dialysis. Families who have lost everything in the struggle to get their child well have a place to receive care and support in shelter in Mary’s Place Popsicle Place program.

Still, capacity is limited and hundreds of families are outside each night in cars and tents

Mary’s Place team of mobile outreach specialists work with unsheltered families where they are, bringing supplies and resources to help address barriers. With flexible funding, the team helps families move quickly into stable housing, bypassing a shelter stay.

But keeping families in their homes, preventing homelessness in the first place, reduces trauma, particularly among children, stops the cycle of generational homelessness, and is cost-effective.