Arranging home care often comes with piles of paperwork and long wait times.
Manitoba Possible launched an online platform, Care Possible, in 2022 to address the issue. It allows users to instantly connect with qualified independent home-care providers.
“The idea was to have a utopia of care services… where people can browse profiles and find the best match for their needs for a home care or respite worker,” Lindsey Cooke, CEO of Manitoba Possible, said.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
‘This investment gives us the runway we need to get to a point of stability so that we can make sure this service is available for Manitobans for years to come,’ says Lindsey Cooke, CEO of Manitoba Possible.
Now, roughly two years later, Victoria Hospital Foundation and Boann Social Impact have announced an impact investment of $1.02 million in Care Possible, which has grown to 2,000 users — including both clients and care providers.
Cooke said the money will help ensure more Manitobans know about Care Possible and support its care providers by delivering online educational sessions so they can continue learning how to best care for their clients.
Using technology to solve a problem has a lot of potential, but it can also be expensive.
“This investment gives us the runway we need to get to a point of stability so that we can make sure this service is available for Manitobans for years to come,” Cooke said.
Nicole Chammartin, the CEO of the foundation, said a significant number of people are waiting in hospital beds unable to start home care because the system is at capacity.
She said Care Possible could help improve the health-care system by taking some of the strain off of hospitals.
“This was an opportunity to support home care and help people get home faster and stay at home safely,” Chammartin said.
Derek Ballantyne, CEO of Boann Social Impact, said the investment is a demonstration of how thinking about impact is a successful way of investing.
“Capital can do good, attract financial return and have an impact on the community,” he said.
The initiative was discussed at the Inspiring Investment in our Social Ecosystem event at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights on Thursday evening.
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