It has been a year since SAGE launched Companion Calls, and so far, over 200 calls between seniors and SAGE volunteers have been facilitated. SAGE would like to thank our community partners, including The O’Neill Centre, Ivan Franko Homes, and Progress Place, for making this program available to their residents and members. SAGE’s volunteer community is quickly growing and to celebrate this, SAGE held our very first volunteer social event, called Community of Practice. During this event, SAGE volunteers and executives shared their unique experiences interacting with the elderly, including life lessons they have acquired and what a typical call looks like with their companion. It comes with no surprise that the calls have been beneficial for both volunteers and seniors by alleviating pandemic-induced social isolation and having a friendly conversation to look forward to every week. SAGE plans to hold more volunteer socials in the future, where people from the community can share their insight and experiences with others who share the same desire to support senior wellbeing.

We are excited to announce our newest partner organization for Companion Calls: Progress Place! Progress Place is a psychosocial rehabilitation centre that supports adults recovering from mental illness by providing hope, opportunity, community, and so much more. Every week, 5 of our SAGE volunteers, Sinamys, Jessica, Vienna, Sneha, and Maham, connect with members of Progress Place’s seniors program via telephone

We are so grateful to Progress Place for the opportunity to work together and to our volunteers for their time and dedication. You can learn more about Progress Place and the incredible work they do at progressplace.org!