Iris Place Gets
IT Upgrade
Publish
Date: Wednesday, 3rd of February 2010
by Joan Brooks
Iris Place has just recently received an
IT upgrade. New
computers, printers, software and networking upgrades bring
Facilitator/Peer
Support Worker Debbie Lessard and her 42 members up to par with any
other
social agency in town.
Assisting
with the upgrades was CJ Greer from NISA (Northern Initiative for Social
Action) and IT representative for NEON (North Eastern Ontario Network).
Also in
town for the two and a half days was NEON’s Krista Tovey. They both
service all
18 organizations and satellites within the Northeast regions (south of
the
Muskoka-Perry Sound border, to James Bay and as far east as Algoma
District
over 500,000 square kms. Iris Place is there farthest northeast.
“Debbie had
contacted us to come up and troubleshoot stuff with the server that was
set up
last August,” said Greer. “They were having trouble accessing the MAP (a
MAP
drive is basically a shared resource, a shared access point) Network
drives and
through NISA and the cooperation of the CMHA (Canadian Mental Health
Association) new equipment has been purchased and set up – printer, scanner, NISA has provided a
stand-alone flat
screen file
server”.
Upgrades
were also ordered through CMHA in Sault Ste Marie including wireless
devices
and USB
external hard drives
laptop. “It’s all upgrading the operating system and the hardware for
members
and staff”, added CJ. The upgrades serve two purposes; the
administration and
members of Iris Place and for OCAN (Ontario Common Assessment of Needs)
through
the Ministry of Health. OCAN staff member Kriste Lessard is installing
new OCAN
software at Iris Place which will enable them to better access and
compile needs
assessment on members.
“It was kind
of a fact finding expedition for me”, offered NEON’s Tovey who took
advantage
of NISA’s trip to Wawa. “I thought I would tag along and see if Debbie
needed
any other kind of help. I provide organizational support in programming,
strategic planning, you name it. I also advocate on behalf of the member
organizations in the network for other things whether it be funding,
extra
staff, new space...”
Iris Place
is one of eight consumer survivor initiatives (CSI) organizations in
North
Eastern Ontario, located in 18 locations because some of them have
satellites.
Iris Place now has four computers and two printers. Two systems are set
up for
member access online, one is a stand-alone for the games (offline) and
one is
located with Debbie. “We also have Print
Shop available
so people can print, fax and photocopy
articles.”
Software
resources include the Microsoft Digital Literacy Suite, a self based
computer
training program that teaches and assesses basic computer
concepts and skills
so that people can use
computer technology
in everyday life to develop new social and economic opportunities for
themselves, their families, and their communities. The other software is
the
Video Professor software that covers XP and VISTA which will help them
learn.