MARY is not a person but a program that addresses the problem of isolation and loneliness faced by the elderly living at home.

‘’The idea for the program came about after seeing how lonely my mother is, even though she has family nearby,’’ Mr Lavilles said.

‘’It [program] provides human interaction (loneliness) and personal services (isolation) on a local level.

‘’MARY – an image of an old fashioned nurse with the white hat – is very caring.’’

The father of five has a long history of running and supporting community initiatives which help families in need and the homeless.

Through observation and social interaction with locals, Mr Lavilles found that in his ‘’affluent’’ Illawarra suburb, community needs are not lack of housing, food or economic, but of loneliness and isolation, mainly from the elderly.

‘’Typically they live in their own homes, wander to the cafes and local shops but they have no companion to talk to,’’ he said.

‘’They sit on their own and when I talk to them they latch on the opportunity to talk. In my suburb there are many like them who would love to talk to people.’’

He has come up with the MARY program to address what he sees as a significant problem in light of Australia’s ageing population.

‘’MARY is a program that facilitates the interaction between the aged and people in the community and offers services that they could not easily do themselves due to lack of mobility and contacts,’’ Mr Lavilles said.

To explain how MARY works he illustrates a scenario involving his 86-year-old mother, Mrs Lourdes Tee.

‘’With her Ipad/tablet/PC she presses the app MARY. A person, local volunteer in the Illawarra region, then appears on screen via video link,’’ Mr Lavilles said.

‘’With Mrs Tee’s previous interactions and services provided on screen, MARY asks Mrs Tee questions such as, how are you today? and do you need me to organise a taxi for you?

‘’MARY not only provides the caring human interaction, it also addresses isolation due to mobility problems and builds relationships with the community.

‘’It uses services from local carpenters, taxi drivers, stores and hairdressers….thereby stimulating the local economy and supporting local businesses.

‘’MARY is a viable social enterprise that gets its revenue from member’s subscriptions, commissions from service providers and advertising from service providers.’’ Mr Lavilles has submitted his MARY idea to the My Big Idea program.

Visit http://www.mybigidea.org.au/ideas/mary to read and support Mr Lavilles’ big idea. ‘’If my idea gets in the top 100 vote-getters it will be given an opportunity to become a reality.’’