Computer Assist for 50+ Seniors

 

For seniors with issues related to their computers, free help is available through Maple Valley Community Center and the Kent Library. MVCC offers assistance with volunteers Curtis Patterson and Ed Hochart through the Center’s 50+ Program. The two technicians can identify spam, do computer repair, clean up spyware and virus issues, and install upgrades. They also provide some personal tutoring. Seniors can arrange appointments by calling GMVCC at 425-432-1272. It would be helpful if those calling for assistance could answer a technician’s first couple questions: What kind of computer do you have? Who is your service provider [example: Comcast].
Patterson’s “caring and patient” expertise addresses his specialty, PC and Android. Ed Hochart works on Apple products. He holds sessions for group assistance on Mac computers at the Kent Library on the first Thursday of the month, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Hochart says a client can “learn the Mac in under an hour.” He teaches a variety of common Mac applications, often scheduling a class to specifically address the questions asked at a previous session. Next month he will talk about iCloud, as that was a focus of recent questions.

As to why such talented technicians spend so many hours at their free volunteer work, Hochart finds his answer easy, “The good Lord smiled on us,” he said. “My wife and I have lived a comfortable life and I now have the opportunity to do the same for good people.”