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Over several weeks last winter, 40 vulnerable patients were discharged from local hospitals to a downtown drop-in centre, instead of the cold streets.
The new overnight hours at the Hamilton Hub on Vine Street were piloted last winter through a partnership with local hospitals and the Greater Hamilton Health Network in response to growing emergency department visits among homeless residents.
It was Vaishali Vajpayee’s team at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton that dug into hospitalization data and started asking questions about repeat visits.
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“Patients are coming during winter more often because there is no place for them to go,” she said. “We discharge them, they go in winter and they are most probably being sick again.”
She’s proud to use her new data science abilities, acquired through the YWCA’s Uplift program, which offers women and gender-diverse individuals an opportunity to upskill or re-skill in specialized technology fields, to address social problems.
“I use all the skills that I learned through the program to help make some impact in improving patient care, patient experience and the quality of care, which is very meaningful,” said Vajpayee, who lives near McMaster.
Since its launch in 2021, the Uplift program has drawn more than 900 participants across southern Ontario YWCAs, with 86 per cent making a career transition during or after completing courses through McMaster, Guelph and Ottawa universities, as well as Seneca and the former Brescia colleges.
Fields include advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, data science and data analytics.
New this year is an automotive program in electric vehicle technology with McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute (MMRI).
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“What we’re doing here is not settling for lower-paid, precarious kinds of work or entry-level work,” YWCA CEO Medora Uppal said. “We’re looking to match people’s skills and capacity with the training and opportunity for jobs that are going to give them the incomes they need to get to economic independence.”
Vajpayee is a former cancer researcher with a PhD in chemistry from Jaipur, India, who came to Canada in 2018 after working in South Korea, France and the United States. Despite a high level of education and experience, finding a job was difficult and she burned through most of her savings. After she was laid off during the pandemic, she decided to pivot to a career with stability and flexibility to also care for her nine-year-old daughter.
Enter Uplift.
For Shaila Jamal, a geographer and planner who’s a current post-doctoral fellow with the University of Toronto, the data science program didn’t completely change her career, but it added “a new dimension,” she said.
The course taught her programming languages, statistical modelling and how to deal with big data — techniques she now applies in her research and teaching. She has also taught data science and analysis at Mohawk College and McMaster University.
Since taking part in the first cohort in 2021, Jamal, who is from Bangladesh, volunteered to help other learners in the program.
“That reinforced my learning,” she said.
Current data science student Camilla Kong, a water technologist with the City of London, joined Uplift to pick up new skills that would support her work in environmental science.
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“I don’t want to silo myself,” she said. “There is a big push or trend to learn more about computer science or data science.”
All three said they’ve inspired colleagues and friends to further their careers and education, some through Uplift courses.
More than 250 participants were newcomers and nearly 320 visible minorities, YWCA said. Nearly 250 are youth and about 215 have disabilities. Another 192 identify as two-spirit or LGBTQIA.
Using existing curriculum components, YWCA worked with the institutions to tailor courses to participants’ needs, which involved taking courses traditionally taught in person online, said Khadija Hamidu, vice-president of economic development.
“We call it a living curriculum because we are always trying to change things up,” she said.
Mentorship, co-op and labs also add to the student experience.
The key to success is the program’s low-barrier program that’s flexible for participants who may be working a full-time job or caring for family, Uppal said.
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“Remote work is critical for women’s success,” she said.
Current funding for the program, which began as a COVID response, has run out, and it may have to be paused in September while the YWCA works to secure funding sources, including from government contributions and corporate and academic partners, to continue to support it, Uppal said.
They’re currently seeking support from government and corporate partners, as well as working with partner institutions, to ensure the program continues.
The YWCA has plans to submit a proposal to broaden the program and continue to align it with the economy, Uppal said.
The rapidly growing artificial intelligence (AI) industry is another area of interest.
“As we see industries changing and moving, we’re moving with that,” Hamidu said. “That’s the beauty of this program.”
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