AT&T gives $20,000 to Amarillo program for digital safety and recovery
In a room filled with community leaders at the Maverick Boys & Girls Club on Friday, Sept. 26, survivors of domestic violence gained a new lifeline. AT&T presented a $20,000 grant to the Amarillo Area Foundation to help victims reclaim their digital identities and protect their online safety.
The funding supports Project Reclaim, a partnership among the foundation, the City of Amarillo Public Library, the Maverick Boys & Girls Club and other community groups. The initiative trains “digital navigators” to meet survivors one-on-one, helping them secure new phones, reset passwords, recover bank and email accounts, and rebuild the technical skills needed to stay safe online.
“This is about more than internet access — it’s about digital dignity,” said Keralee Clay, interim president and CEO of the Amarillo Area Foundation. “An abuser can control everything: phones, bank accounts, health portals. Project Reclaim helps survivors take back their digital presence and their sense of safety. We can connect people to the internet, but if we don’t also provide protection and education, we leave them vulnerable.”
Clay said the concept grew from a personal connection. “A close friend went through this. Watching her struggle to regain control of her own accounts and identity made it clear we had to act,” she said. Early conversations with city leaders and AT&T began in 2021, when Amarillo was still among the least-connected cities in the country. “Now we’re one of the more connected cities, but connection without protection isn’t enough. This grant lets us wrap digital safety and rights into everything we fund.”
Maggie Elder, digital outreach coordinator for the Amarillo Public Library, said the library’s pilot navigator program shows the model works. “In our first year, we’ve already helped about 500 residents and logged more than 4,000 hours of one-on-one assistance,” she said. “We start with basic technical skills — creating an email address, setting up a phone — but also tackle complex problems like recovering erased data or regaining access to a locked bank account. For someone rebuilding a life after abuse, even a simple password reset can feel impossible. Our goal is to meet them where they feel safe and give them control again.”
The new funding will allow navigators to distribute digital “go bags” — kits with step-by-step resource guides, emergency contacts, and hardware such as replacement phones or mobile hot spots. Elder said the team will also create workshops tailored to survivors’ needs. “We’ll design classes around what survivors tell us they need, whether it’s securing health-care portals or learning to spot online scams,” she said. “We’ll bring those classes directly to partner organizations that serve victims so people don’t have to find us — we’ll come to them.”
While the initial focus is domestic-violence survivors, Elder noted that seniors will also benefit. “We began this work with our older residents,” she said. “We already hold classes at the downtown library, the ACTS Community Center and the Warford Center. Scams and privacy violations affect seniors every day, so the same tools help them stay independent.”
AT&T external-affairs manager Matt Foster said the company views Amarillo as a key hub in its effort to close the digital divide across rural Texas. “It’s not just about putting fiber in the ground,” Foster said. “It’s about making sure people can use the internet safely and effectively. When someone has been cut off from their digital life, helping them reconnect is every bit as important as providing access.”
Foster added that AT&T’s involvement in Amarillo is ongoing. “We’ve funded a Connected Learning Center at the Boys and Girls Club and supported a documentary on bridging the digital divide here,” he said. “This isn’t a one-time event — we’ll keep coming back to support efforts that bring people online safely.”
Project Reclaim will begin as a pilot with organizations such as Family Support Services before expanding citywide. Partners hope to eventually integrate youth programs like Girls Who Code to ensure vulnerable children also gain safe digital skills.
Clay said Amarillo’s collaborative spirit makes such work possible. “The Amarillo Area Foundation could never do this work alone. The city, AT&T, the Maverick Boys & Girls Club — none of us could. But together we can make amazing things happen. This started as a conversation in 2021, and now it’s a reality.”
Residents seeking help can contact the Amarillo Public Library’s digital outreach team while a dedicated website is developed. “Having a dream is one thing,” Elder said. “This funding lets us turn that dream into real change for people who need it most.”