Community Access Program - Success Stories

WASAGA BEACH - Our CAP Youth Intern, Brittany, has done a great job developing porgrams that fill the need of residents in the comunity. It certainly is a testament of what can be done with someone dedicated to providing Internet and computer training. The need is obviosuly there for this kind of service in a small, rural community it is often difficult for people to get to a bigger centre for service. So the fact that the CAP site is able to provide this service strengthens our role in the community.
MATCHEDASH - Recently an older lady has been coming once or twice a week to take computer lessons. She has not had her computer for very long, she lacked confidence and was afraid she would do something wrong. Throughout our sessions, I helped boost her confidence while teaching her useful things, especially with the use of email and the internet. The other day we were in the middle of the session and she told me that since I had started assisting her with the computer, her confidence has soared and she was searching the Web the other day for recipes! Our next challenge will be uploading and saving pictures from her camera! Without CAP many individuals would not have the means to learn, facilitate and grow in our ever changing technological world! GRAVENHURST - One big success story is a man named, Ross. He had recently been placed on medical leave from work, and was sitting at home unable to do anything. He has a computer, but didn’t know how to use it. The CAP youth worker was able to teach him Word, Excel, Internet and the email. He is now able to type letters to friends, and keep his bills and expenses organized through spreadsheets. He has a lot of interests, so I showed him how to do research online, and he has found all sorts of websites. He is also able to stay in touch with friends and family via e-mail. Each class Ross would come in with a new skill that he wanted to learn or a new subject that he would want to research. He is now incredibly knowledgeable on the computer, and is determined to learn even more.
CLEARVIEW - The little urban communities in our very large (geographically speaking) township are too small for a federally funded job-assistance presence (such as the Career Access Centre in Collingwood and Northern Lights Canada in Angus). The Township of Clearview is too under populated to allow for a public transportation system. Without access to CAP workstations many people in our community who are actively looking for work, but unable to commute to these larger centres for assistance, would not be able to find job openings/work on their resumes/send off applications. CAP sites = employment!

ESSA - A man has spent several days coordinating a hockey tournament in Angus as a fund raiser for leukemia research. He was not a dedicated computer user when he started but has been learning to use FaceBook to put it all together. We also accessed Statistics Canada and Toronto.ca to find out the ethnic distribution of Toronto for a woman who works with international military students at Base Borden and wanted to take them to the area of Toronto that had been settled by people from their homelands.

TOWNSHIP OF TINY - "During the summer at our CAP site we have many traveling visitors from Canada, USA, and even Europe. They bring their laptops and are very happy to discover free high speed wireless access. They use email, MSN, and occasionally Skype to stay in touch with their family and friends back home. Many became regulars for the full summer season and passed the word around to their local friends bringing more clients to the CAP centre."

LAKE OF BAYS - We offered a short course on Searching the Internet. There were a few people who got new lap tops for Christmas who were interested in learning the basics. As well a couple of people have wanted to learn how to set up web sites. One young Mom is starting to sell baby products online and hopes to turn this into a full time job from home in order to be able to quit her outside job and stay home with her baby.

INNISFIL - Because residents are unable to travel to major centers we have been approached to offer and promote online resources such as ServiceOntario. Thanks for CAP funding we are able to provide these invaluable online resources to the residents of our Community.

ESSA - At Essa Public Library the internet stations are a necessity for people who are job searching:

• People keep their resumes on a disk or flash drive so they can use the CAP computers to update or re-write their files for a job application. When a client is having difficulty staff offer their help with formatting, grammar, and spelling.
• People use the internet to search job sites for employment opportunities and to find background information on companies prior to attending an interview.
• People set up gmail/yahoo/hotmail accounts using the CAP computers so they can email job applications and receive responses.
• Students use the computers for distance education courses to learn new skills or upgrade existing skills. Senior staff is available to proctor their exams without charge.
• WHMIS training and Health and Safety Orientation is available online. People take these courses, write the exams and receive a certificate to add their resume.

Community Access Program | The Connected Circuit| Rural Broadband | E-Waste Unplugged

Technology Alliance Group
50 Mary Street West,  Lindsay, Ontario  K9V 2N6 Canada
Phone: 705-878-9261 | Toll Free: 1-800-407-6419 | Fax: 705-878-8630