Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Announces $7.5 Million in Funding To Provide Internet Access to More Than 2,000 Montgomery County Households

New Carrollton, MD. – (June 5, 2025) Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Jake Day today announced $7.49 million in Fiscal Year 2025 awards to help more Marylanders in Montgomery County access high-speed, affordable internet. Awards through the Home Stretch for Public Housing program, administered by the department’s Office of Statewide Broadband, will help provide internet access to approximately 2,276 unserved Montgomery County households.

“In today’s home, access to high-speed internet is as important a utility as water or electricity,” said Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Jake Day. “Every household we connect through the Moore-Miller Administration’s Home Stretch for Public Housing program closes the digital divide in Maryland and means more people have access to better broadband services, regardless of where they live.”

Home Stretch for Public Housing is part of the department’s initiatives to serve remaining Maryland households without internet access. The grants provide funding to fix or upgrade internal wiring and provide common area Wi-Fi for municipally-owned and non-profit, low-income multi-dwelling units. By covering the costs associated with fixing and upgrading the internal infrastructure, grants enable targeted housing units to effectively leverage the high-speed broadband services already offered by their existing Internet Service Providers.

The Department will provide a total of $13,698,394 to improve internet services across Maryland, including $7,498,959 for Montgomery County in the following locations:

• Charter House Brookside Silver Spring (1,028 units served)
• Hamptons (768 units served)
• Hillandale (480 units served)

“The money provided through these awards will strengthen Maryland’s digital equity and inclusion efforts across the state,” the Office of Statewide Broadband Director Ronnie Hammond. “These grants will ensure that every Marylander has equal access to digital resources, technologies, and opportunities.”

The Office of Statewide Broadband works to ensure that all Maryland households have access to broadband through its programs to expand infrastructure and increase digital equity. Since the office was created in 2017, it has invested more than $270 million into broadband infrastructure and programs. Those efforts have provided high-speed internet access to an estimated 52,000 previously unserved homes and businesses statewide.

For more information on the Home Stretch initiative and the Office of Statewide Broadband, visit dhcd.maryland.gov/Broadband.

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