Nominee
Evelyn Shore

Evelyn Shore has been involved in very many volunteer activates in Ottawa and throughout the National Capital Region. Many of those activities are listed in the Fifty-Five Plus Magazine article included below. Further to the article we would like to draw your attention to her ongoing work with and contributions to the PACE 2000 International Foundation. (please visit www.pace2000.org for information on this Canadian registered charity)

Evelyn began her involvement with PACE 2000 in 1996 when she participated in the PACE 2000's Forum on Friendly Technologies for Seniors and Students held at the old Ottawa City Hall. Not only was she impressed with the vision and goals of PACE 2000 but she was interviewed for a local TV news broadcast featuring her exploring the Internet with a student participant at the forum and Evelyn hasn't ceased being a star for PACE 2000. Evelyn began to participate in PACE 2000's intergenerational programs and soon became a member of the PACE 2000 board of directors.

Evelyn became a key participant of PACE 2000's "Intergenerational Virtual Village" a videoconferencing network linking seniors with students. Evelyn allowed a digital connection to be made directly into her living room and has conducted hundreds of videoconference sessions. Sessions have and continue to include the following:

• Tele-physiotherapy; Evelyn's sessions benefited not only herself since she routinely invites her senior citizen neighbors to join her in weekly sessions. The ongoing sessions are conducted for seniors by the Family Physiotherapy Centre at the Perley and Rideau Veterans' Health Center and are transmitted via videoconference directly into Evelyn's living room. Please view the short TV report videos available on the PACE 2000 web site (or go directly to http://members.rogers.com/mfruh/pages/p2k5pag.html a PC with speakers is required to hear the audio portion of the TV report)
  
• Cross-cultural For the past 6 years Evelyn has been holding weekly sessions with the Catholic Immigration Center's Reception House on 310 Boteler St. In these sessions Evelyn greets and mentors newly arrived immigrants from all over the world. Beyond providing a friendly face and a warm welcome to Canada, Evelyn acts as a mentor guiding the immigrants in their search for permanent housing, education, employment an other community resources.
  
• Educational Sessions, Evelyn works with students at high schools providing mentorship. In 1997 Evelyn, along with her granddaughter were elected PACE 2000 Intergenerational Pair of the Year.
  
• Virtual Playschool, Evelyn listens to and interacts weekly with the children of the River Parkway Preschool. The children entertain Evelyn with songs, dances and show-and-tell reports while the children learn to overcome shyness and relate with seniors even if via a virtual presence.
  
• Lastly Evelyn was "virtually" present at two of PACE 2000's participation at broadband telecommunications (Waterloo Ontario 1999) Tele-health (McMaster University, June 2000) and conferences. Evelyn along with her granddaughter in their home in Ottawa fielded questions via videoconference from conference delegates.

In addition to all of her work in the Intergenerational Virtual Village, Evelyn sits on numerous committees established by PACE 2000 to promote its vision of autonomy and communication for the elderly in Canada and internationally. The committees include, Technologies Development and The PACE 2000 Intergenerational Residential Village Building Committee.

Below is the text of the Fifty-Five Plus Magazine November 2002 edition Vol 14, issue III, page 6

"You have to wonder when Evelyn Shore sleeps. This active Ottawa senior has been and continues to be involved in so many volunteer activities and organizations that there's not enough room to write about them all. In fact, it's hard to keep them straight.

It's even harder to keep up with her. Back in 1992, Evelyn was honoured with a medal from Canada's then Governor General, Ramon Hnatyshyn, for her volunteer work. She certainly hasn't slowed down since. For starters, she's second vice president of the Senior Citizens Council of Ottawa. She volunteers for practically every council activity, from packaging and mailing the monthly newsletters to supervising and working at the council's free income tax clinics. "I enjoy it immensely."

A widowed great grandmother who grew up in Russell, Ontario, this committed public helper has been getting involved in civic life for over 30 years and she has worked gratis at the local, provincial and national levels to make good things happen.

"My big interests are housing and health." She has been involved in many capacities with housing organizations, including the Cooperative Housing Foundation of Canada, and she sits on the board of directors of Ottawa Community Housing. In the health realm, she has acted as a consultant for both the federal and Ontario governments.

She has served on various committees for the Council on Aging of Ottawa and she's really keen about her involvement on the board of directors of PACE 2000 (PACE is an acronym for Programs for Autonomy and Communication for the Elderly). It's an innovative organization that supports communication between young people and seniors through the use of technology. "It's amazing," she enthuses. "I wouldn't give (this involvement) up for anything. I have met people from all over the world."

Evelyn's co-chair of the Ottawa Seniors Action Network and chairs the board of directors of ACTO (Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario), a housing law clinic in Toronto with directors from across the province. There's more: She's membership chair and recording secretary for the Montgomery branch of the Royal Canadian Legion and she's also on the Speakers Bureau for the United Way. To boot, she sat on the first elected board of directors of the Community Care Access Centre and has served as president of Ottawa Lifelong Learning for Older Adults.

None of these significant roles or voluntary tasks is a chore for Evelyn Shore. It's not work, she says. It's a pleasure. "It's my interest. "When my husband died 16 years ago, this is what kept me going." And boy is she still going strong!"



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