ROKiT Cities Unveils Free "Help Your Neighbor" WiFi Network for Men and Women Coming Out of Chronic Homelessness

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ROKiT Cities today unveils its first fully functioning WiFi City in Austin, Texas.

The company has installed state-of-the-art carrier grade hardware into Community First! Village as the first phase of a multi-phase buildout, enabling free WiFi and online streaming services to the residents of Community First! Village. Community First! Village provides affordable, permanent housing, and a supportive community for men and women coming out of chronic homelessness and is supported by passionate, Austin philanthropist, John Paul DeJoria.

The new service allows local residents to connect to fast and reliable WiFi, and make cellular-free calls and texts wherever they are in the 51-acre community. To further enhance the lives of 200 formerly homeless men and women who live in Community First! Village, ROKiT will also be providing each resident with one of the company's 3D-enabled smartphones. With these smartphones, residents will be able to have unlimited access to the internet services, make free WiFi calls, watch ROKiT's extensive library of 3D movies, listen to music, and more.

"We are delighted to be able to install and offer free WiFi to all the men and women who live in this community through our ROKIT Cities program," said John Paul DeJoria, co-founder of the ROKiT Group, Paul Mitchell and Patron Tequila. "I know what homelessness feels like, people need a place to belong, but they also need to feel connected to others and by giving them smartphones and free access to the internet, we are taking the steps in order to make them feel more part of a community."

Mobile Loaves & Fishes is leading an unprecedented collaborative effort to mitigate homelessness in the city of Austin. The nonprofit's Community First! Village development is a transformative community that exists to care for and serve people coming out of chronic homelessness and yearn for a permanent place to call home. John Paul DeJoria has also donated homes, gardens, a tractor, and more recently more than $1 million for a new entrepreneur hub for artisans.

"The work Mobile Loaves & Fishes does is vital for the community, and I feel very proud that we are able help enhance the lives of the residents by giving them phones and enabling them to make free calls, texts and stream content without having to use a cell phone network," said Jonathan Kendrick, Chairman and co-founder of ROKiT Group. "It's our belief that building and providing affordable technology and WiFi services plays a crucial role in helping improve quality of life for those who need it most."

The ROKiT Group, founded by serial entrepreneurs and philanthropists, John Paul DeJoria and Jonathan Kendrick, have been providing mobile services and WiFi products for more than 17 years. The company's ambition is that installation of faster and more cost effective WiFi XL across the globe will encourage economic expansion across key areas, helping drive e-commerce thereby reducing digital divide.

ROKiT Cities currently has over 70 towns and villages in the US and around the world signed up to install the service.

For more information regarding ROKiT Cities, please visit www.rokitcities.com

SOURCE ROKiT Cities