With an estimated 1,000 homeless veterans living in San Diego County, it’s critical for a region with a large military presence to have an organization, and community, that supports and serves those who have served others.
It’s perhaps why more than 3,000 volunteers participated in Stand Down 2023. Hosted in July by Veterans Village of San Diego (VVSD), this three-day event was designed to provide homeless veterans, and those at risk of homelessness, access to experts and services that can help remove barriers caused by medical, legal, mental health, and substance use concerns.
Cox Business, a longtime supporter of veterans and a partner of VVSD, stepped up for the eighth year in a row to support Stand Down.
Like a circus tent that suddenly pops up one morning and vanishes again in the dark of the night, Cox Business technicians spent the prior week quietly building temporary WiFi access points in the parking lot of the Pechanga Arena. The technicians strung cables from light pole to light pole and installed significant network infrastructure. This meticulous work delivered reliable, fast internet service to all participants of Stand Down 2023 and reinforced the importance of local partnerships.
Aiming high
In previous years, Cox Business provided the Stand Down event with simple, secure internet connections utilizing cable modem activated WiFi. This allowed vendors and VVSD employees online access. The 2023 event was different.
“Every year, we participate in this event and get them connectivity,” said Malcom Dykes, field operations supervisor. “But this is the first year that we offered the expanded WiFi for the entire venue.”
With more veterans in attendance and expanded resources to meet their changing needs, the size of Stand Down 2023 was considerably larger than in the past. Participants were offered haircuts, legal services, employment opportunities, medical and dental services, entertainment, meals, and much more.
In anticipation of the increased demand on the temporary WiFi service, business technology technicians Stephen Cox and Caleb Alarid worked with VVSD to come up with the best design to accommodate not just the vendors, but the attendees, as well.
The Cox Business team remained onsite throughout the weekend to provide technical support.
“The team that was onsite went above and beyond to make sure that we had everything we needed, and that systems were always up and running,” said event organizer Teresa Miller. “Stand Down was an incredible, emotional experience for all of us. Seeing it all come together, it was easy to see how much our community cares about the veterans we serve. It was an accomplishment to provide services for over 550 veterans and their families.”
Cox Business account manager Josh Bartels reflected on this year’s event as the best yet in Cox Business’s long partnership with VVSD.
“To be able to build a professional level, managed WiFi solution capable of handling 500 people — all connecting at the same time — was huge,” Bartels said.