TOM: ALBERTA

Tikkun Olam is Hebrew for “repairing the world,” and that is our focus in TOM. Our goal is to design and create empowering solutions for challenges faced by individuals living with disabilities and limitations.

 My worker and I came across a “makeathon” event in Calgary this August. It is a pairing of individuals with disabilities with several “makers” i.e.. electricians, engineers, designers, etc. for 72 hours and come up with a prototype at the end of the time to help the individual with a disability. There is a 4 month long creation process beginning this September in which prototypes or apps etc. will be built among teams including 1-2 persons with a  disability and about 6 “makers” (professional creators). 

My worker and I emailed them a couple of weeks ago to receive more information. We were put in contact right away with a project manager named Kathryn. She was unable to meet us in person so she sent two colleagues to meet with us that week. They were very excited to meet me! They thought I would be a great fit for a group that has another person developing an app to assist people who have difficulty speaking. They invited me to join that team if I am interested. 

I am already blown away by the dedication and passion these people have for this project!! 

They encouraged me to keep in touch and to contact them if anymore ideas come to my mind. I feel like this is a good fit for me. I’m really excited!

Please check out their site for more information:
http://kadimadynamics.com/researchgroups/tom/