![CNIB brings 'mobile hub' to Whitehorse to support people with vision loss](https://i.cbc.ca/1.7226081.1717628797!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpeg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/the-canadian-national-institute-for-the-blind.jpeg)
CNIB brings 'mobile hub' to Whitehorse to support people with vision loss
CBC
An estimated 1,400 Yukoners live with some form of vision loss. A multi-hour event this week in downtown Whitehorse brought services a little closer to them.
The Canadian National Institute for the Blind's (CNIB) B.C.-Yukon division brought a "mobile hub" to downtown Whitehorse on Wednesday. It was a chance for people to access services offered by CNIB, participate in workshops, and learn about assistive technologies and peer support.
"It's not just about coming here, offering programs [and] information, but also to make connections so everybody can feel like they know where to go," said Ana Booth, who works for CNIB's B.C.-Yukon division.
She said the organization was thrilled to be in Whitehorse with the mobile hub program. The CNIB hopes to visit the Yukon at least annually.
Pat Chicquen is with the Canadian Council for the Blind (CCB), an organization that the CNIB invites to participate in these mobile hub program days. She is the president of the BC-Yukon chapter of the CCB, as well as her local group in B.C.'s Comox Valley. Years ago, Chicquen lived in Destruction Bay and Watson Lake, Yukon.
The Yukon has never had an active local CCB chapter or club but even before lunchtime at Wednesday's event, Chicquen had signed up six people who were interested. She says she likes to see CCB clubs everywhere there are enough people.
Her advice for everyone? Go visit your optometrist annually, especially as you get older.
"Lack of sight is not a lack of vision," Chicquen said.
William Aleekuk of Whitehorse has been a member of the CNIB for about 30 years. He said it was helpful for an event like this to happen in Whitehorse.
"This is my first time coming [here] with this many people," Aleekuk said. "This is the most I've ever seen."
William Van Fleet lives in Carmacks, Yukon. He's been legally blind for over two decades and says the challenges of living with vision loss in rural communities are different.
"The roads aren't paved very well, so it is a rougher service," Van Fleet says. "The other thing is, you're on trails or going across the ice."
Still, he says he has good supports from the community, First Nation, and his family.
Van Fleet remembers when there was a CNIB office in Whitehorse years ago, where he was a volunteer and a peer counsellor. He was happy that the organization was back in town this week.