RXR Realty awards $73,900 in funding for virtual learning resources in Westchester

RXR Realty, a New York-based real estate group, said they will provide $73,900 to help address the resource gap that low-income students have faced in access to remote learning.

The Westchester Library System and the STEM Alliance of Larchmont-Mamaroneck, as partners, will receive $43,900 to provide computers to families in need, while the Boys & Girls Club of New Rochelle will receive $30,000 to operate virtual learning centers for an estimated 300 children.

The funding will support students who lack the resources, support, digital knowledge and access to technology necessary for remote learning and completing academic assignments, needs that have grown exponentially with the move to virtual schooling due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The STEM Alliance of Larchmont-Mamaroneck aims to end this “digital divide.” According to the alliance, 30,000 households in Westchester do not have a computer and 51,000 have no available internet connection. This means about 40% of children in low-income families may have to complete homework on a cellphone or use public Wi-Fi, while over a third may not be able to complete it at all.

The funding for the Westchester Library System and the STEM Alliance will be used to provide 100 computers for 62 families who do not own personal computers. The computers were previously owned by RXR and will be donated and refurbished; grant money will go toward buying screens, keyboards, webcams and speakers for them.

The $30,000 for the Boys & Girls Club of New Rochelle will help keep the organization’s existing virtual learning centers in operation and available for free or at a low cost to the families who utilize them. The centers offer technological resources, academic support, free or reduced-price lunch and safe social interaction.

According to Lutonya Russell-Humes, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club, “The funds awarded to us by RXR will allow us to be there during this difficult time for kids whose parents have to work while school is not in session full time, keeping them safe and helping improve their academic performance, while providing some normalcy.” Forty-one percent of the students in the program live in single-parent households.

The donations are part of a relief program that RXR has implemented in New Rochelle, where it serves as the master developer for the downtown area. Through the RXR COVID Relief Fund, RXR has funneled almost $1 million toward New Rochelle nonprofits, small businesses and city housing programs.