Issue #371 Feb. 18th, 2019 Feeding Our Curiosity, Uncovering Strengths

F O C U S

174 Oliver Road, PO Box 1087, Campbellford, ON

1-866-514-5774 or www.commcare.ca

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All Community Care Northumberland offices will be closed on

Monday, February 18th, 2019

in observance of Family Day.

Offices will re-open on Tuesday, February 19th, 2019 at 8:30 am.

Image courtesy of Simon Howden at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

CCN In the News: MPP David Piccini is Boosting Public Transit Funding for Municipalities

Support will Help Enhance and Expand Transit Systems in Communities across Northumberland-Peterborough South

CAMPBELLFORD, ON – Ontario’s Government for the People is helping municipalities across the province expand or improve their public transit systems and transportation services. MPP David Piccini for Northumberland – Peterborough South was at the Trent Hills Chamber of Commerce in Campbellford to announce that Northumberland will receive $ 979,946.00 of support from the provincial government through the Community Transportation Grant Program and the Gas Tax Program. “This investment will improve the quality of life for many people in our communities that are currently underserved by transit,” said MPP David Piccini. “Whether it’s seniors, students or others, access to transit helps people get where they need to be to live active, independent lives.” This year, the province is providing $364 million in gas tax funding to 107 municipalities providing public transit service to 144 communities across Ontario. These communities represent over 92 per cent of Ontario’s total population. The Government of Ontario is also supporting 45 different projects in 40 communities with $30 million over five years to support local transit and intercommunity bus service in areas with little or no public transit through the Community Transportation Grant Program. These programs will make it more convenient for Ontarians, including seniors, students, youths and persons with disabilities to access essential services in their communities, connect with other transportation services, and travel between cities and towns. “We are investing in public transit to make it a more convenient travel option and attract more riders,” said Kinga Surma, Parliamentary Assistant to the Ministry of Transportation. “These investments in Rural Ontario are vital to the personal wellbeing of individuals and the economic wellbeing of the broader community.” “Dependable transit options for people living in rural communities is vital for ensuring inclusion. With the Rural Transportation Service, Community Care Northumberland offers an affordable, coordinated, and connected transportation solution for our community,” said John Logel, Warden, Northumberland County. “In so doing, it reinforces linkages between our municipalities, strengthening the economic, public health, and social fabric of Northumberland County. We thank the province for investing in the ongoing sustainability of this important community service.” “Community Care Northumberland has worked closely with local municipalities and Northumberland County for many years delivering community transportation. This funding will support the current capacity and provide additional opportunities for residents to access transportation especially in rural areas,” said Trish Baird, Executive Director, Community Care Northumberland. “Our community transportation service called ‘Connecting Northumberland’ has provided 1,611 county residents with trips related to healthcare, work, school, appointments, shopping and social outings.” Announcement in Campbellford, outside Trent Hills Chamber of Commerce office—pictured right: Councillor Gene Brahaney, Mayor Bob Crate, Anne Newman—CCN’s Regional Transportation Coordinator, MPP David Piccini, Kinga Surma—PA—MTO, Warden John Logel and Councillor Rosemary Kelleher-MacLennan .

Health & Safety Column: Being Smart on Smartphones and Social Networks

A study from Statistics Canada revealed that seniors are the fastest growing segment of Internet users in Canada and that 69 per cent of Canadians aged 55 to 64 and 18 per cent of those 75 years and older own a smartphone. In addition to adopting mobile technologies like smartphones and tablets, seniors are also joining social media networks to stay connected. It is now more important than ever before to empower seniors to stay safe in our digital world.

Social media sharing and safety There is a thin line between being connected and over sharing on social media. Here are six tips to help you protect your privacy and avoid over sharing on social media: 1. Never share your passwords, banking information, social insurance number or any other private information

online. This tip may seem like common sense, but there may come a time when you need to share this information with a family member. Instead of sending the information online, it is more prudent to call them or, ideally, deliver the information in person.

2. Set strong and unique passwords or passphrases (i.e. a complete sentence such as ILoveMyGrandkids367*) for your accounts and enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for added protection; with 2FA, you need to authenticate yourself with something in addition to your username and password, such as a code that is sent to your device by text.

3. Switch your social media profile to private in order to hide your profile information from users you have not accepted as friends.

4. Regularly review and update your privacy and permission settings so that you’re comfortable with what information you’re sharing and with whom.

5. Don’t accept friend requests from strangers or those you don’t know. 6. Be mindful of what you post and share, including information you may be unknowingly sharing. For instance,

posting photos while on vacation is an indication that you’re not at home. You may also be inadvertently sharing the location in which the photos and/or videos were taken. This is done through the process of geo-tagging, which adds geographical location data to photos or videos. To enhance your privacy, turn geo-tagging off in your phone settings and wait to share vacation photos until you return.

Mobile device safety Protect your information on your phone (or tablet) by implementing these steps: 1. Set up a passcode on your device so no one can access your device without your permission and update

settings so your phone automatically locks after a period of inactivity. 2. Most smartphones have a feature allowing you to locate your phone remotely in case you lose it, or delete

data/disable it if it is stolen. Be sure this feature is activated (Find my Phone on iOS and Find my Device on Android).

3. Erase all content and settings (iOS) and/or perform a factory reset (Android) on your phone before giving it away or recycling it. This will wipe the phone clean of all your data and is more secure relative to manually deleting the information on your phone item by item.

4. When using free Wi-Fi in public places, be cautious of what information you transmit over the Internet: 5. Don’t download any software updates over public Wi-Fi. It is an easy way to accidentally introduce a virus

onto your device. 6. Avoid surfing sites that require you to login, but if you can’t avoid it make sure the URL of the website starts

with https and not http. This indicates an added layer of data encryption. 7. Refrain from doing any online shopping so as to protect your credit card information. 8. When downloading apps, read the privacy and permission agreements. These outline what information of

yours is shared with the developer when you agree to their terms. This article is from Canada Safety Council.

Hospice Farewell

It is with much sadness we announce Autumn Hanna will be leaving us here at CCN.

She has worked as a Hospice Service Coordinator since 2017. Autumn has been a pivotal hospice team member in volunteer training and providing client and volunteer support. We sure are going to miss her!

A warm invitation to all to come join us Wednesday February 20th from 2:00pm-3:00pm for a cake reception in the Cobourg office to wish Autumn all the best with her future endeavours.

Submitted by: Cheryl McFarlane—Regional Hospice Coordinator

Upcoming Workshops

Bring your creativity and roll up your sleeves to transform unfinished wood into a beautiful personalized work of art. In the workshop we teach you artistic methods to give your wood sign the look of antiqued reclaimed wood. We provide all the materials needed to create your project to display and decorate in your home.

Dates:

FEBRUARY 20, 2019, 1-4pm, CCN’S Activity Room in Brighton, fee $15.00

FEBRUARY 21, 2019, 9am-12pm, Hastings Civic Centre Hall in Hastings, fee $15.00

To register for these dates, email through this link here.