During the pandemic lockdown, residents began a routine of meeting in good weather out on the fountain deck on Friday afternoons for “Happy Hour”.  Participants brought their own drinks and sat a safe distance apart. As happy hour became more popular, some brought a folding chair to supplement the seating on the deck. Now that we can gather indoors the group meets in the party room on raining Fridays and all through the winter months – but we still head out to the deck in good weather. This casual party is come as you are, bring your own drink and don’t wait to be invited. Everyone is welcome!

Two nurses from the Rexdale Community Health Centre presented information about urinary tract infections. They spoke about the symptoms, the complications, how we can stay healthy. So many questions answered!

“Lunch & Learn”s have been some of the most popular initiatives at Islington Vertical Village, attended by 25 to 60 residents each time. The most recent was a presentation by Connected Canadians, a national digital inclusion charity that promotes digital literacy in older adults. It seemed that we could get along without technology until recently, when it is a widespread assumption that everyone has a computer and smart phone. Connected Canadians uses a combination of one-on-one support, instructor-led workshops, and web-based resources to provide, free of charge, training in digital literacy skills.

Janice Greenberg, speaker

Our enthusiastic expert speaker was Janice Greenberg who talked about the usefulness of artificial intelligence (chatGPT) and gave some good advice about shopping for groceries online. If you missed her presentation she followed up with some handouts to help us become comfortable with these digital supports. Click below to download these handouts.

• ChatGPT – artificial intelligence
• Grocery shopping online