A technological hub is up and running on Windsor Street in Thunder Bay.
The Thunder Bay District Social Services Administration Board (TBDSSAB) launched it with the goal to ensure people without access to technology at home to be able to carry out activities such as education or searching for a job online.
“Everything we seem to do in life seems to go back to the computer, and the internet,” explains Chair Lucy Kloosterhuis. “It’s just not affordable for everyone to be able to have that in their home, and this is our aim. Technical equity in my mind is ensuring that everyone, no matter what their place in life in, has the opportunity to take part or make use of the new technology that there is in the world, and that we not be hindered by the fact that a number of these things are very expensive at times.”
There is also a strong focus on technological education, with a knowledgeable staff on site to assist.
“We have an IT staff that of course is part of helping those residents use their units, and they are very qualified,” says Kloosterhuis. “Believe it or not even the chair of the board needs them sometimes, and it has been their aim to see this happen. Work started in 2020, it’s taken a while to get it to this point and we’re very happy to see it start to open with the first units starting to open on Windsor.”
The Social Services Administration Board is also planning on opening up two more hubs in the Limbrick and Trillium neighbourhoods by early October.
