Digital Equity in Affluent America: The Hidden Face of the Digital Divide

Drive just 11 miles east of downtown Boulder, Colorado — past the boutique coffee shops and the University of Colorado campus — and you'll find yourself in Lafayette at the corner of US 287 and W. Baseline Rd. You’re in a comfortable middle-class neighborhood. There’s a Walmart, Kohl’s, Starbucks, and Chili’s nearby. The Waneka Lake Park and the WOW! Children’s Museum are a few blocks away. 

It's not a place that conjures images of digital inequity. 

In 2023, the median household income in Boulder County was $102,772. That’s 130.86% of the U.S. median household income of $78,538 for the same year. Nearly 32% of family households earn $200,000 or more.

And yet, when Sister Carmen Community Center — located just 2 blocks from this intersection — releases the schedule for their basic computer skills classes, every slot is  quickly snapped up.

This is the hidden face of the digital divide — not relegated to rural areas or inner-city neighborhoods, but present in one of America's most educated and affluent counties. It's a reality across the U.S. — and one that challenges assumptions about who needs digital skills training and where that training occurs.

The Need Behind the Numbers

Boulder County's wealth statistics tell one story. But dig deeper, and another one emerges. Despite the county's prosperity, in 2023, over 36,000 (out of 316K) residents lived below the poverty line.

Today, over 42,000 residents live below the poverty line. For a family of four, that means surviving on $2,089 or less per month — in a place where the actual cost of living exceeds $6,200 monthly. This year, when SNAP benefits were paused, the Sister Carmen Community Center saw a big spike in food assistance requests.

"The thing that impressed me was how large the operation is," said Adam Miller, Executive Director of 35 Mile Foundation, after a recent visit. "I can't imagine what small rural communities are going through that don't have access or proximity to so much wealth."

And as Cassie Bair, Vice President of Broadband Services of 35 Mile Foundation observed, “Lara Van Matre, the Digital Access Programs Coordinator for Sister Carmen’s Bridging Digital Divides program, gave us our tour on Veteran's Day, when they were closed. However, there was a steady stream of people who showed up while we were there, looking for different kinds of assistance. If that is how busy they are when closed, I can't imagine how it looks during regular hours.” Her observation makes it clear that even in this affluent area, Sister Carmen needs more support to meet local needs.

Boulder County has been nicknamed "Silicon Flatirons," (a reference to the iconic Flatirons rock formations near the city of Boulder). Until recently, it had several digital navigators providing services across the County. 

A digital navigator is a trusted guide who helps people secure access to high quality connectivity and low cost devices, provide foundational digital skills and tech support, and connect people to further opportunities and services to help them meet their goals. They provide individualized support and/or coaching in introductory digital skills based on a person’s goals and provide information so the person can make their own decisions regarding technology use. 

Prior to this grant funding, Sister Carmen had participated in the same AmeriCorps Digital Navigator Pilot Program that placed Digital Navigators in the Boulder Public Libraries for the previous two years. When AmeriCorps funding was eliminated earlier this year, multiple digital navigator positions across the region disappeared. Only Sister Carmen's program — with one part-time digital navigator — survived.

More Than a Food Bank

Best known as a foodbank and thrift store, Sister Carmen Community Center has deep roots in East Boulder County. Named after Sister Carmen Ptacnik, a Catholic nun who served the Lafayette community in the 1970s, the organization became a registered non-religious nonprofit organization in 1978. 

Today, it operates a Family Resource Center that provides basic needs services to the most vulnerable residents in local communities.

Walk through the front entrance, and you'll see an impressive operation: shelves stocked like a typical grocery store  just 5 minutes down the road. It’s designed so that people receiving donations have a similar shopping experience.

But within the network of Sister Carmen’s services is the Bridging Digital Divides program — a digital equity initiative that has become essential to the community. Their part-time bilingual digital navigator, Yameli Santos, works evenings, weekends, and even makes house calls for mobility-challenged residents. She ensures that service is delivered where it is needed most, and in a timely fashion — because no-one ever has a tech emergency that can wait a week. She also previously relieved staff at partnering agencies by supporting people who normally rely on those agencies. So far, she’s provided assistance to more than 350 community members across over 500 hours of personal appointments.

As Van Matre put it, “Digital access is often interwoven with life’s most vulnerable moments. Yameli’s sincere commitment has directly impacted lives, helping participants navigate complex, life-sustaining tasks — from applying for affordable housing to enabling essential telehealth appointments.”

And the program is also part of a wider digital inclusion network. As Bair pointed out, “Lara leads the Boulder County Digital Inclusion Alliance. Many of the orgs that attend tap into the classes she coordinates. It's really impressive how these agencies weave their services together to get needs met.”

Empowering the Community

The Level I: Basic Computing Class offers eight, two-hour classes that meet in-person once per week for eight weeks that covers the basics: Gmail, document creation, internet safety, fraud recognition, and navigating online portals like the Boulder Valley School District's parent system. Classes are in both English and Spanish, with childcare and dinner provided. Participants pay $10 per week, and those with perfect attendance take home the Chromebook that they learned on — ensuring they have the consistency of using the same device after the course is completed.

The Level II: BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) classes help with topics like cleaning up space in their Google accounts, unsubscribing from promotions and unwanted emails, organizing photos, and managing passwords. Bridging Digital Divides programs coordinator Lara Van Matre has helped community members upload custody documents to Google Drive — a safeguard for families concerned about document access for their entire family. Sister Carmen’s digital navigator has assisted seniors with printer setup and taught parents how to monitor their children's school progress online.

Under the right circumstances, the digital navigator provides free one-on-one support for skills like device setup, email troubleshooting, social security portals, Medicaid applications, and finding affordable internet options. The program also extends to partner locations like EFAA (Emergency Family Assistance Association) in Boulder, the Senior Center in Longmont.

One participant wrote, “I don’t know what I’d do without her as I have cancer and keeping the computer running helps me to communicate with doctors in Zoom calls and with my palliative care team.”

Why We Renewed Our Commitment

We recently approved continued funding for Bridging Digital Divides — an easy  decision given the increased pressure on digital equity resources in the area. 

"While our board members were already aware of the role Sister Carmen Community Center plays in the community, they were surprised to learn how the Bridging Digital Divides program has taken on such a vital position as the provider of the only digital navigator for Boulder County,” 35 Mile Foundation Executive Director Miller recalls of his board presentation to renew their funding.

The multiplier effect of the Bridging Digital Divides program extends to job access, online education, telehealth, social services, academic success for children, and economic opportunities for entire families. 

A Call to Action

Sister Carmen's Bridging Digital Divides program illuminates an uncomfortable truth about digital equity work in America. In our experience, most people assume the digital divide exists only in places that look poor, that feel disconnected, that match our mental images of underserved communities.

The reality in Boulder County defies that assumption. Home to a flagship university, surrounded by tech industry influence, boasting household incomes well above national averages — and yet, one part-time digital navigator can’t meet demand.

But perhaps the more sobering question is this: if the need is this acute in Boulder County, how many similar communities across America are overlooking the digital divide in theirs?

As we've mentioned before, affordable internet access and competent digital skills determine access to jobs, healthcare, education, and government services. The divide isn't just about whether you have internet access — it's also about whether you know how to use it.

The digital equity work we support at the Sister Carmen Community Center represents just one piece of their comprehensive approach to family support. But in an age where nearly every aspect of modern life requires digital access and fluency, we think it’s among their most critical services.

Meanwhile, their digital skills classes keep filling up. 

In affluent Boulder County, as in other well-to-do communities across the country, the digital divide isn't a problem happening somewhere else — it's happening right there among the tree-lined streets. Let’s work together to support more programs like Bridging Digital Divides to cities across the country. 

"If, after reading about the Sister Carmen Community Center, you are inspired to support them, we invite you to make a donation."