PowerOn — Technology Distribution for LGBTQ+ People Facing Homelessness and Poverty

LGBTQ+ people in the United States face disproportionate digital exclusion: LGBT Tech and independent LGBTQ+ media report that a large share of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ, and that a much higher share of LGBTQ+ adults live in poverty than the general population, cutting many off from the devices and connectivity needed for school, healthcare, and job-hunting.
PowerOn, run by LGBT Tech, addresses this by distributing donated and purchased laptops, tablets, smartphones and printers through a national network of LGBTQ+ community partner centres, rather than shipping devices directly to individuals.
As of 2024, PowerOn had distributed more than $400,000 worth of technology and over 2,000 devices, reaching an estimated 400,000 LGBTQ+ individuals in need of technology, through 107 partner centres across 30-plus US states and territories. In 2023 alone, recipients reported using the technology to complete schoolwork (100 people), find stable housing (257 people), and apply for jobs (335 people).
The program began in 2014 as Connect 4 Life, a joint effort of LGBT Tech, Straight But Not Narrow, human-I-T and The Trevor Project that gave 25 homeless LGBTQ+ youth in Washington, D.C. their first mobile phones; it was renamed and scaled nationally as PowerOn in 2015, and is now backed by corporate partners including Apple, AT&T, Comcast NBCUniversal, Google and Meta.

Read the full analysis: https://www.lgbttech.org/programs