FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - January 16, 2009
Contact: Maggie Kao, 919-360-0308 or 202-466-2735
DTV Assistance Centers Open to Serve Impacted San Antonio Residents
One Month Before Digital TV Transition, Assistance Centers Offer Information and Technical Support to At-Risk Populations
San Antonio, TX – Today, Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD) of Texas, the Texas Media Empowerment Project, and the William C. Velasquez Institute, in partnership with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund (LCCREF), opened San Antonio’s DTV Assistance Centers. The San Antonio opening will be one of seven in cities nationwide marking the one-month countdown to the digital television transition on February 17. In San Antonio, three centers opened today.
Each center will assist their communities with the conversion and act as hubs for information and technical support during the transition to digital television. San Antonio’s Assistance Centers will be located at:
Communication Service for the Deaf of Texas
7400 Blanco Road, Ste 130
San Antonio, Texas 78216
*Communication Service for the Deaf of Texas will serve the deaf and hard of hearing community in San Antonio.
Texas Media Empowerment Project at Esperanza
922 San Pedro
San Antonio, TX 78212
*Texas Media Empowerment Project at Esperanza will serve elders, low-income families, and non-English speaking communities in San Antonio.
William C. Velasquez Institute
Kelly USA, Building 1670
206 Lombard Drive, 1st Floor
San Antonio, TX 78226
*The William C. Velasquez Institute will serve low-income families in the Latino community of San Antonio.
“We’re opening our center to help San Antonians smoothly transition to digital TV. Many people are concerned that in the midst of this recession they may need to buy an expensive new television or subscribe to a paid service, such as cable in order to continue to have access to television programming but they don’t,” said DeAnne Cuellar of Texas Media Empowerment Project. “Folks who use rabbit ears or a rooftop antenna for over-the-air television signals will need a converter box. If they haven’t already signed up for the government coupon program, that provides a discount on the converter box, people should get on the new waiting list now.”
LCCREF is urging residents to act now before the DTV transition on February 17 changes the way millions of Americans watch TV. By signing up for the coupon wait list now and taking the necessary steps to convert at least one television in their household, residents can prepare themselves and prevent their televisions from going dark next month.
The San Antonio Assistance Centers will hold coupon application drives, help distribute coupons, and conduct trainings about the different converter box options and the installation process for their communities.
The DTV Transition will require millions of Americans to take action in order to maintain access to free over-the-air television.
“We know that communities of color, people who rely on languages other than English, low-income working families, our elders, and people with disabilities rely on over-the-air TV for emergency public service announcements, and they will be most affected on February 17,” said Patricia Gonzales of the William C. Velasquez Institute.
“Access to communications in the 21st century is not a luxury, it’s a necessity,” said Kent Kennedy, CSD of Texas director of program operations. “While we usually think of television as entertainment, it also provides critical emergency alerts and a lifeline to people with disabilities. That’s why we are providing technical support and training to the deaf and hard of hearing community, as well as interpretation services at DTV events around the city to ensure that they are ready for the transition.”
LCCREF is teaming up with local organizations nationwide to provide trainings and DTV-related assistance to members of impacted populations in seven major cities: Atlanta, GA; Detroit, MI; Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN; Portland, OR; San Antonio, TX; San Francisco-San Jose-Oakland CA; and Seattle-Tacoma, WA.
For more information on how the DTV transition will impact vulnerable communities, visit: http://www.civilrights.org/dtv/. To order coupons or for more information on the DTV transition, go to: www.DTV2009.gov or call 1-888-DTV-2009.
###
About WCVI
The William C. Velásquez Institute (WCVI) is a tax-exempt, non-profit, non-partisan public policy analysis organization chartered in 1985. The purpose of WCVI is to: conduct research aimed at improving the level of political and economic participation in Latino and other underrepresented communities; To provide information to Latino leaders relevant to the needs of their constituents; To inform the Latino leadership and public about the impact of public policies on Latinos; To inform the Latino leadership and public about political opinions and behavior of Latinos.
# # #
