This subsidy has connected thousands in Baltimore to affordable internet. It runs out soon.

For years, John Lewis’ sister urged him to get an internet plan. He felt lost without it, he said, but he was stubborn and uninterested in learning to navigate something that felt so new. That changed in late November, when Lewis wandered into the community room of City View at McCulloh, the West Baltimore tower where he lives in public housing, and found officials from the housing authority signing up residents for home internet. Now Lewis has an Xfinity connection in his apartment. Soon, $30 of his monthly bill will be covered by the federal government.