Over the past few days, many of you have approached us to express your grief and anger at the racial injustices that are occurring around us. Although the violent police murder of George Floyd may have brought it to the forefront, the subsequent death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet and police-shooting death of Chantel Moore bring home the continued reality that systemic racism permeates aspects of our own society and institutions. We grieve alongside you and share your anger at these horrific events.
With the announcements of widespread closures at the start of the March Break, GreenHouse’s Youth Innovation Program has had to be, well, innovative. Fortunately, both the students in the program, as well as the organizational hosts and the coordinator, Anne Filion, have risen to the challenge.
As an innovation community, GreenHouse is in constant evolution. It’s always finding ways to be more impactful in meeting the needs of the social innovators and entrepreneurs it serves.
One of Waterloo Region’s largest hospitals is finding extra hospital bed capacity at a local college.
St. Paul’s University College has agreed to provide Grand River Hospital (GRH) with 84 private rooms to house non-urgent patients currently housed at the hospital.
"We know that hospitals around the world are concerned about their capacity to accommodate the growing number of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Richard Myers, St. Paul’s Principal. “St. Paul’s is happy to do its part to ensure our hospitals have the resources they need during this extraordinary period.”
We’ve all heard the expression: “It’s like riding a bike!” The phrase is often used to describe something that once you’ve learned it, you’ll never forget. Over the past year, however, Connie Melidy and her capstone team of fourth-year mechanical engineering students discovered that learning to ride a bike in the first place is hard for some people, and decided to turn that challenge into their own challenge.
Like so many Waterloo grads, Cameron Turner (BMath ’02) met his wife Tanya Morose (BSC ’02, MSC ’07) while living at St. Paul’s for two years beginning in fall of 1997, learn how they are working on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic and doing their parts to help minimize impacts and disruption.
GreenHouse students are often asked, “What’s your why?” The question invites emerging social entrepreneurs to figure out what change they truly want to make, and from there to determine the best way of doing so. When Aaiman Aamir came to GreenHouse a year ago in her last term, she wasn’t sure what problem she wanted to solve but she was aware of her regret about having opted out of studies in STEM.
For the last seven years, GreenHouse has offered a place for students in the UWaterloo community to receive support on starting and launching ventures that have a social impact. On November 26, 2019, GreenHouse went out into the community instead in an effort to offer an opportunity to newcomer youth from across the region who might not otherwise have the chance to learn from the incubator.
Ever since GreenHouse alumna Aileen Agada began her venture BeBlended – a company focused on the black hair care industry – she has kept a notebook in which she jots down every idea and possibility that occurs to her. But soon, Aileen might need to add a few extra pages to that notebook.