ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Keeping up with technology can be a challenge for anything in this day and age of consistent change and development. That’s why the Veterans Outreach Center of Rochester is leveling the playing field for the ones who have already sacrificed the most for our country.
“As a teacher, my biggest reward is when somebody learns. I mean, that sounds really simple, but especially to a group of individuals who have done everything for me and my family, and the generations of my family. To be able to provide them something that they can benefit from and be empowered by is a huge gift for me,” Daniel Jones said.
Jones is an independent contractor who specializes in teaching technology. He has dozens of prepared curriculums that he’s previously brought around the community — most recently to the VOC. He started holding monthly Tech Tuesdays for veterans to come with questions for individualized lessons.
“Tech Tuesdays, where our veterans can come in, get some one-on-one help on skills they want to learn, and other vets can be learning along with them. But each veteran in the class will get one-on-one attention,” said Nena Sivert, the employment and training manager at the VOC.
“Getting older and finally retiring, it’s not that easy. But this place offers quite a bit. I mean these computer classes are helping me out because that’s one of the toughest things when it comes to tech because we can’t always remember everything,” Marine Stan Patykiewicz explained. “My questions were about the Gmail account as to how to group the emails because it… to make it easier to send out because I’m also a Chapter 20 member of Vietnam Veterans of America, and we send emails back and forth. And instead of typing each person’s name in there separately, or their email address, I could do it as a group. And I’m going to experiment with that.”
Alphonso Dailey left the Air Force in 1995, and agrees there’s always something to keep up with.
“How does the watch, the privacy, does it coincide with the phone? How does it work together? The ease of it, and someone who’s a novice like myself, how much training would I need to learn how to use it to make it effective?” Dailey said with a smile. “I’ve always been an Android user, so switching over to iPhone. My son will be happy.”
John Luce is the training coordinator at the VOC. He guides his fellow veterans to other opportunities post-service, no matter howling it’s been since they’ve enlisted. He says, just by asking around, he noticed a common theme that people needed help with — technology.
“What I see from the folks that come in here, our vets, our brothers and sisters, and where they’re lacking and the help that we give them so that, you know, it’s time, we’re teaching them to fish instead of feeding them for the day,” Luce explained. “It just sets them on the path more, maybe from a civilian standpoint, and helping them get back into that. And f they’ve been out for a while, part-time jobs, full-time jobs, it will help them with today’s technology. That just changes all the time, as we know.”
Even for individuals who aren’t seeking employment opportunities, having access to and knowledge of technology can help keep veterans connected to their family.
“We have a good percentage of population who necessarily aren’t looking for a job, and if they are, it might be just part-time, just to keep them engaged in the community, engaged and, you know, working and talking to people. But on the other side of that aging population,” he explained. “They might not be living in the same community or the same town or the same state as friends or relatives. So this opens up a door to them that they didn’t, they may not have had before. And like one gentleman, he’s got this tablet. How do I use it? How do I see my grandkids or my kids or whatever, my friends? So that provides a whole new world to it. And I think that’s the simplicity.”
“When we had COVID, the Zoom meetings became a current reality. They’re still current, it’s much more convenient for folks instead of meeting face to face, and I know some people have a lot of family members, so family reunification can be critical of someone’s mental health, and someone’s potential risk of self-harm. So maintaining those contacts is also very important,” Silver explained.
Luce’s position at the VOC has given him the opportunity to connect and help his community, which is a goal many members can relate to.
“This is a place where I am, I tell many people, I feel human again. Where you get a chance to talk to the vets, and just sit down, and shoot the talk,” he laughed.
Tech Tuesdays have provided guidance anywhere from smartphones and smart TVs, to Google or email. It proves that sometimes it really is about the “little things.”
“We work with an aging veteran population to a certain degree and some that are have been very hesitant to even want to create an email account. And we’re finding they’re coming in to learn everything about Google and the internet, and online shopping, and smart TVs. Now they know more about my TV than I do,” Silvert laughed.
With some lessons under the belt, everyone seems ready to tackle bigger and better.
“It seems to be easier. And I think the computers got me figured out. So it helps, but the next big thing is going to, then wonder, and I want to maybe even use it, is that new AI revolution that’s coming up and the apps for that,” Patykiewicz laughed.
“It excites me. I love the fact that things are moving fast. I want to know more about AI, I wanna know the details of it, how I can use it to my advantage in a lot of different areas,” Dailey explained. “I’m learning all new skills because the world is changing so fast, so you have to kind of keep up on it. Being here helps me do that with all the resources, all the outlets and the great people that have coming here, helping us and assisting us in what we may want to do. [It’s a] great resource.”