Program helps teens adjust to living with vision loss

MONCTON – Young New Brunswickers suffering from vision loss will soon have new role models to help guide them through life. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Moncton have paired with CNIB Canadian to launch a mentorship program.

And the program is already making a big difference in the life of a Moncton teen, Veronique Gauvin.

At 17 years old, Gauvin is trying to adjust to life as a teenager with vision loss.

“I think one of the biggest things is how people look at you and how people see you. Like you have all the equipment in class and you obviously look different and stuff,” she said.

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Gauvin can see shadows of light, but is considered legally blind, much like her new mentor, Natalie Fougere.

“To really feel accepted as a teenager with a visual impairment that’s always a challenge that I used to go through and that she’s still goes through,” Fougere said.

That’s why last year, Fougere paired up with Gauvin as a mentor through the mentorship program.

“The goal is to match two people together who live with the same experience. So a person who is blind or partially sighted a youth matched with an older client,” said CNIB’s Melanie Belliveau.

The program helps youth like Gauvin adjust to growing up with vision loss.

Fougere says the program has been incredible rewarding for her as a mentor.

“I find it’s always good to be the person to tell someone that you are not alone in this situation,” she said.

“She is a very strong and independent person and I have seen that even with my visual impairment that I can still do a lot with myself and it doesn’t stop me from anything,” Gauvin said.

This pairing is a first of its kind in Canada. The two go shopping together, out for coffee, bake, go to the movies and have developed a strong bond.

CNIB plans to expand the project throughout New Brunswick and eventually into Nova Scotia. Belliveau says they have plenty of mentor volunteers, but need more youth to sign up for the program.

“At first I was a little bit scared of the match and meeting someone new,” said Gauvin. “It can be like you don’t know if you are going to connect with the person but I think they made a really good match with me.”