On Jan 1, 2020, no one imagined they would be working towards their new year's resolutions while facing a global pandemic. Keeping track of the dynamic situation, public health restrictions, and the # of cases in one's region took a toll on us all.
These unprecedented times brought uncertainty, but they also brought an opportunity for individuals, businesses, and economies to change. An opportunity for us to adapt to a new ‘normal’.
Amidst these events, the BEC team, in hopes of bringing some homegrown hope in otherwise trying times, launched a social media campaign all about how Brampton's local businesses are #CopingwithCOVID.
In this booklet, are stories of nine unique Brampton businesses that have strategically shifted their operations to overcome the challenges COVID-19 presented. We hope you enjoy the read and continue to support Brampton's local businesses.
Download a copy here
Hype Car Care
Hype Car Care is a team that specializes in saving time by offering quality car services such as mobile tire changes and auto detailing right to your doorstep. COVID19 raised a concern for the health and safety of their employees and clients.
To adapt to the challenges presented by COVID-19, the Hype Car Care team ran a campaign in which they disinfected all vehicles surfaces at no extra charge. They also provided all employees with respiratory masks, gloves, sanitizers, and full body suits. Their team does not come in contact with the customers and all payment transfers are done online which their clients love!
Hype Car Care is #CopingwithCOVID by providing quality services and not compromising on safety.
Qwhery
Qwhery was founded by Matt Pietryszyn to connect smart cities with smart homes by integrating municipal open data with Alexa enabled devices in one's home. The pandemic posed an uncertain situation for all of us. As a result, many individuals were concerned about receiving updated information and tracking the # of cases.
Matt turned this gap into an opportunity by forming a strategic partnership with SaFuture Inc. Through their collaboration, they launched a COVID alerts platform which provides up to date COVID-19 statistics and information via text messages.
The system utilizes the user's general location to send updates about new confirmed cases within the area. The registrants can opt for daily or weekly summary messages to stay informed. But they don't stop there, it goes above and beyond by showcasing the current # of cases in a map format. This helps users stay well informed during this pandemic.
The Party Centre
The Party Centre rents out tents and equipment for corporate and private events, including weddings.
Due to COVID-19, all events were either cancelled or postponed. For The Party Centre, this brought business to a grinding halt. As it became clear that physical distancing would be the new norm for the foreseeable future, things looked bleak for the event industry.
The Party Centre recognized the need to reposition themselves and make use of their assets. As the economy slowly reopened, they identified a need for tents or temporary structures in the corporate sector as organizations make accommodations for the new normal.
Testing and/or sanitation stations for employees, waiting rooms, expanded break/lunch room space, covers for walkways to protect customers from weather elements as they line up outside are just a few of the services they now provide.
The Party Centre is
#CopingwithCOVID by providing services that help businesses adjust to the new normal. To find out more about their organization, you can head over to their website:
www.thepartycentre.com
Nat's Robotics Academy
Nat's Robotics Academy founded by Nat at the age of 13, is a team of young instructors with a strong passion for robotics and programming. For the academy, the pandemic meant pausing all in-person workshops and community events until the foreseeable future.
In response, Nat shifted the academy to an online platform. This entailed providing private workshops on Java Script, HTML, CSS, and Python. Pivoting allows the academy to continue engaging with students and help them learn from the comfort of their home. Nat's Robotics Academy took learning one step further by creating programming videogames to keep students engaged through gamification.
However, Nat's Robotics Academy did not stop at just helping students. They are making #BramptonProud by using 3D printing technology to make face shields for health care workers. These shields are being donated to health care facilities in their community. This goes to show that everyone can use their different skills to support each other during this pandemic.
If you or someone you know are interested in robotics and programming, head over to
Nat's Robotics Academy for more info.
Julia's Place Music Therapy Center
Julia's Place Music Therapy Center provides quality music therapy programs for clients with a variety of needs and abilities while specializing in neuro-rehabilitation as well as child and youth development.
Due to COVID-19, they were no longer able to meet their clients in the usual places such as group homes, long term care facilities, day programs, and child care facilities. In an effort to continue serving their clients with the new restrictions, they began to consider online options. After careful consideration, they decided on a secure telehealth platform that is safe, confidential, easy to use, and meets PHIPA/PIPEDA requirements.
Despite the stresses of being isolated, clients have experienced amazing benefits from online sessions. Julia's Place Music Therapy Center has also moved some of their drop-in movement sessions for kids and adults to Facebook LIVE events. This has allowed them to serve and connect with new individual clients from around the world.
Julia’s Place Music Therapy Centre is
#CopingwithCOVID by using creative and innovative technical solutions to serve their clients.
For more info head over to
juliasplacemusictherapy.com
Montaneros Coffee
Montañeros Coffee is a small business dedicated to sharing the rich flavour of Colombian specialty coffee. Before COVID, Montaneros Coffee primarily depended on Toronto’s supermarkets and coffee demos to sell their products.
However, this pandemic had other plans. Many grocery stores decided to close, and the public health restrictions meant halting coffee demos. With their existing business strategy discontinued due to public health restrictions, Montaneros Coffee took this opportunity to develop a new commercial strategy.
The venture realized they must strengthen their online and social media presence. They reached out to their friends, family, and followers to provide free samples of their product. They are focusing on increasing sales through e-commerce. These changes have allowed them to even expand distribution of their product to three metropolitan cities in Ontario.
Montañeros Coffee is #CopingwithCOVID by solidifying their online presence, providing free samples to customers, staying active on social media, and forming key partnerships with other local businesses.
To get a taste of their coffee, reach out to Montañeros Coffee
Math Thru Music
MathThruMusic is a social enterprise on a mission to excite, educate, and encourage students to gain greater understanding of numeracy through music. Whether through math or mentorship, they use the art of DJing to draw crowds of participants with hands-on activities.
With much uncertainty and strict public health regulations, MTM discovered a different way to achieve their mission. In early March, they hosted a DJ battled called March Madness #SkratchMatch. With parental permission, MTM delivered turntables, headphones, and laptops to numerous students so they could participate.
Their upcoming So You Think You Can DJ Season 9 Finale on June 9th has been reimagined! To keep the momentum going, they delivered equipment to the competitors and began practices on Zoom to continue empowering young people across North America.
Math Thru Music is #CopingwithCOVID and continuing their mission by providing their services virtually through online assemblies and workshops.
For more info, visit: www.MathThruMusic.com
Chatting to Wellness
Chatting to Wellness is a not-for-profit organization founded by Mahad Shahzad which combats senior isolation by facilitating 1:1 in-person chatting sessions between Chatters (trained volunteers) & residents in retirement or long-term care homes.
How did COVID-19 impact them? The strict public health measures meant the organization must immediately halt all in-person visits to limit exposure to the vulnerable elderly population. This shouldn’t be a barrier in companionship since they can easily migrate to online conversations, right? But what if many seniors are not active online? How does the organization continue improving seniors’ mental health during this period of isolation?
Chatting to Wellness is #CopingwithCOVID by offering scheduled chatting sessions through their website. A senior can sign up or have their family member sign them up. The organization confirms the session and calls on the number provided to reach the senior. The feedback from the seniors is very positive as they are happy to connect with the Chatters. Just recently, over 120 volunteers have signed up to become Chatters.
Catering by Gregory's
Catering By Gregory's has been in the business of event catering for nearly 30 years however, due to COVID19, all their events were cancelled/rescheduled.
In order to adapt to this sudden change, Catering By Gregory's pivoted to providing affordable yet high quality meals to individuals and the response has been terrific.
But wait, they didn’t stop there! They realized that local food bank Knights Table needs help to meet the increase in demand, so they reached out to their suppliers who kindly donated food and the team used their culinary skills to prepare meals for Knights Table. Customers also got in on the action and so far have donated over 300 meals.
In challenging times, Catering By Gregory's has been #CopingwithCOVID by finding new ways to stay in business while feeding people in our community.
For more info, visit: www.gregorys.ca