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New Westminster seeking proposals for seniors’ tech and information programming

Century House is inviting local seniors to lead online programming for their peers. This fall, Century House will be launching Octopus: Reaching Seniors in the Community, an outreach initiative to seniors that focuses on technology and information.
Century House
Century House is taking steps to connect seniors with an outreach initiative that focuses on technology and information.

Century House is inviting local seniors to lead online programming for their peers.

This fall, Century House will be launching Octopus: Reaching Seniors in the Community, an outreach initiative to seniors that focuses on technology and information.

Shelly Schnee, the city’s program coordinator for seniors, said Century House had an opportunity, through the New Horizons for Seniors’ program, to develop a grant that focuses on reaching out to seniors in our community – something that is especially important because of the pandemic.

“These have been strange times, and we haven’t been able to be in that place where seniors connect,” she said. “Century House has been closed since March 17, and when we open in the fall our capacity will be different.  We understand how important it is to connect with other people. (It’s) especially important for seniors, and we wanted to do something, so we developed and will be launching Octopus: Reaching Seniors in the Community.”

Century House is currently accepting proposals for the Octopus programs, which will be on Zoom. The deadline for proposals is on Friday, Sept. 11 at 4 p.m.

Octopus: Reaching Seniors in the Community is an outreach to seniors in the community that focuses on technology and information:

*Development and delivery of virtual programs that are technology based.

*Development and delivery of virtual programs that deal with art, music, or anything creative or educational.

* Provision of access to information. This includes researching and gathering information that is important to seniors in the community regarding how to care for themselves in light of experiences relating to the pandemic. The information would be shared via a Zoom webinar and a “postcard” that would be distributed to the community.

* Provision of information about fraud prevention. This would include researching and gathering information about how to be safe on the internet and how to protect yourself from fraud and scams, with the results to be shared via a Zoom webinar and a “postcard” that would be distributed to the community.

“One of the things two of the projects – access to information and fraud prevention – will produce are postcards with information that we can distribute throughout the community,” Schnee said. “For example, with fraud prevention, a senior can have the information right there by their computer to help them be careful on the internet and with email and avoid fraud. We just really want to have important information at the fingertips of seniors.”

Schnee said the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the importance of Century House developing an online community where people can continue to connect. She encourages community members to watch for the rollout of Octopus: Reaching Seniors in the Community this fall.

“All of these projects are targeted toward seniors, and there will be leadership roles for people 50+,” she said. “We have some budget to provide honorariums for leadership roles. We are especially looking for people who can turn a skill into an online/virtual program. We will be using Zoom, and Century House will provide the technology support. We need to find the talent!”

Anyone interested in any of these opportunities can email Shelly Schnee at sschnee@newwestcity.ca with a one-page proposal, outlining their skills in a specific area, their contact information and their availability.