An Orillia company is using its online expertise to help isolated, low-income seniors get the essentials during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Caredove, a local software company, is already in the business of connecting health-care professionals and their clients with available resources. So, when it was asked by the Ontario Community Support Association (OCSA) to host a website to help out during the pandemic, “it made sense for us to do it,” said Caredove CEO Jeff Doleweerd.
“For people who are isolated, it’s more important now than ever that they remain in their homes, supported, because it’s the safest place for them to be. They need supplies and groceries to be able to do that,” he said. “Not everybody has the means or ready access to a social network that can help them remain in their homes.”
Through the new website, ontariocommunitysupport.ca — a partnership between Caredove, the OCSA and the province’s Ministry of Seniors and Accessibility — people can book deliveries of Meals on Wheels or other essentials, such as groceries and medication.
The service is available to people all over Ontario. The OCSA manages community support services for the province and works with about 600 organizations.
“With the help of the OCSA, we were able to reach out to all of the organizations they work with,” explained Jules Roebbelen, digital marketer with Caredove.
She echoed Doleweerd’s comment that it was a natural partnership for Caredove to get involved with.
“Our entire business model is about keeping people healthy and safe and independent at home. We do that by connecting people with community support services,” she said. “In line with COVID-19 and self-isolation, this was the perfect time for us to launch a provincial response.”
Caredove officials might not have expected a pandemic, but their software has made for a fairly seamless transition to assist during this type of situation.
“The platform was built to deploy at a rapid pace. We already had the software in place,” Roebbelen said. “This was not a position we ever wanted to be in, but we’re happy to be able to provide such a rapid response to something like this.”
Caredove, which has been in business for about six years, has approximately 20 staff members who have been helping with the latest project, and all of them have been eager to assist, Doleweerd said.
“It’s nice to be able to help out in a way like this,” he said.
More information about Caredove can be found on its website.
