Past Priorities

 Access to technology and technology training is a need that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. As participating organizations in the regional response to COVID-19 organized by United Way of Greater Toronto and the City of Toronto, organizations in different “clusters” across the City of Toronto have been working in collaboration to address urgent gaps for vulnerable and underrepresented groups of people in their local communities. In the SE CCP Cluster, one of these identified groups was seniors.

The Digital Fluency Working Group (2020-2022) formed  to address the great need of adequate access to technology and technology training. In the SE CCP Cluster, the digital fluency of seniors has been an area of concern because of the impact to traditional service models. Seniors need to access and be able to use technology tools effectively in order to connect to community services, access health care, find resources, and mitigate the impact of social isolation by staying connected to friends, families and loved ones.

Members/Service Providers

The agencies and organizations below worked together to collectively address both access to technology needs and access to training resources for seniors in South and Central Etobicoke. Many continue to collaborate to deliver digital fluency solutions. Please reach out to former Working Group lead, Marta Pineda, at Haven on the Queensway, if you are interested in learning more. 

• TechServe
• Stonegate CHC
• LAMP  CHC
• Storefront Humber
• The Dorothy Ley Hospice
• Etobicoke Services for Seniors
• Humber College
• Haven on the Queensway – former Working Group Lead, Marta Pineda
• Toronto West Local Immigration Partnership
• VON Ontario –Peel Site
• The Learning Enrichment Foundation
• Fontbonne Ministries

Practices

In order to address access to training resources, and to ensure a systematic approach to addressing this community issue, the organizations above work collaboratively to:

• Refer seniors to TechServeTO for training and support in the use of technological devises.
• Promote TechServeTO’s services and training supports to senior clients.
• Promote and source technology volunteers for TechServeTO.
• Develop co-branded marketing and training material.
• Exploration of funding opportunities to advance the shared purpose of this collaboration