Ontario

It was five years ago, right here at CNIB Lake Joe, that my daughter said to me, ‘Mom, I have found my people.' At that moment, I knew that we were going to be okay.

The moment Joshua Cook arrived at CNIB Lake Joe, he knew it was the beginning of a beautiful, lifelong bond.

"Before I went to camp, I felt isolated. I was the only person I knew with a visual impairment," says Joshua. "I wanted to be around other people with sight loss. Lake Joe really put things into perspective for me."

Community Engagement Volunteers are people who are blind or partially sighted, their friends or family, or anyone who has a connection to the mission and wants to make a difference in their community. They are self-starters who can bring together community and drive local grassroots campaigns as well as support national advocacy issues in their region through collaborating with others.

Meet Diane Bergeron, President of CNIB Guide Dogs. If you are a certified guide dog trainer or a certified guide dog mobility instructor, we are looking for you to come and join our fabulous team working together to make the lives of people who are blind or partially sighted in Canada better every day.

Join John Rafferty, President & CEO of CNIB, for a tour of CNIB's Canine Campus, a state-of-the-art facility training amazing dogs to do incredible work in communities across the country.

Sandra started volunteering with CNIB as a Vision Mate, a program that connects volunteers with participants for friendly conversations. The first time she heard about CNIB Lake Joe was during a peer support group in her hometown of Newmarket.

Diagnosed with Stargardt's disease when he was a teenager, Kevin’s passion for self-advocacy was sparked at university. While engaging with an assistive technologist on campus, he met a friend who was a disability advocate.

As an assistant captain for his hockey team, Edmonton's Warren Wong knew what it meant to be a leader. He would also coach his brother and his friends, showing them drills to improve their skills. Due to the pandemic, Warren stepped into a different coaching role; a CNIB Tech Mate volunteer.

For Rositsa Ivanova of Toronto, volunteering with CNIB has been an incredible opportunity to learn new skills and make a difference in the lives of Canadians living with sight loss.

Twenty Canadians who are blind or partially sighted graduated with their guide dogs on April 28, 2021. At the graduation ceremony, seven buddy dog partnerships and two ambassador dog partnerships also graduated, alongside the guide dog partnerships.