A survey of current and former homeless shelter residents in New York City showed that only 6% were able to access the internet via their shelter, according to a report released by the City Bar Justice Center, which argues for the city to provide reliable Wi-Fi and updated internet-ready devices to shelter residents in order to fight the city’s growing homelessness problem.

In a news release announcing the report, the Justice Center, part of a New York City Bar Association nonprofit affiliate, also pointed out repeatedly that insufficient internet access at shelters had become a more immediate and “further hardship” for homeless families as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the city to close its schools “in favor of remote education.”