OTTAWA, Oct. 24, 2018 /CNW/ - Connected Canadians, an Ottawa-based non-profit providing free technology training to seniors, is launching its newest volunteer program on October 26th, the first of its kind in Canada.
The new program brings volunteering directly into the workplace by pairing high tech workers with seniors living in a nearby retirement residence for 45-minute mentoring periods during business hours. The first group session will be made up of employees from the Ottawa software firm i-Sight and seniors from the Westwood Retirement Residence, which are located across the street from each other. "Connected Canadians seeks to take the tech knowledge and skills that most people of our generation take for granted and share them with seniors who need the help," says non-profit co-founder Emily Jones Joanisse.
Connected Canadians found the ideal supporter in i-Sight. "At i-Sight, we're big believers in giving back. We have a program for our team that allows each person to take 2 days per year to volunteer in the community," says i-Sight CEO Joe Gerard. "When we heard about Connected Canadians, we thought it was a great way to allow our employees to use skills they already have to help seniors in our community and to develop their own client-facing skills." i-Sight creates case management software that is relied upon by hundreds of leading national and multinational corporations and government agencies in all sectors to conduct better investigations.
Through this new workplace volunteer program and its other digital literacy-focused training programs, Connected Canadians strives to improve the quality of life of seniors by equipping them with new skills to stay connected with their loved ones and the outside world. At its core, the volunteer-based non-profit is about building relationships, between seniors and family members and between seniors and volunteers (many of the volunteers are highly skilled immigrants and volunteering gives these newcomers the chance to meet more Canadians). But the vision extends beyond the strictly personal. Co-founder Tas Damen notes: "Older people have incredible wisdom, knowledge and real life experiences which need to be translated into a public voice, because their voices will lead to more inclusive public engagement."
SOURCE Connected Canadians
Emily Jones Joanisse, (343) 882-8338, [email protected]
Share this article