charity begins at home
Filed Under Stuff | July 28, 2010
Ever since we launched yoyomama in 2007 we’ve been trying to figure out a way to give back. We’ve toyed with the idea of donating a percentage of our profits to a charity but not only did we have a hard time choosing just one to support, but as a small business, our donation wouldn’t necessarily go very far. So instead, we’ve decided to do what we do best and spread the word by profiling a different Canadian children’s charity each month. Some will be big, some will be small, but all are working hard to improve the lives of Canadian kids. And to start, we’d like to introduce you to the Canadian Deafblind Association.
The Canadian Deafblind Association provides support and services for children who are Deafblind and their families. When a child is Deafblind, it means that he can’t use his vision or hearing as a means to gather information and needs an Intervenor to help him communicate. An Intervenor acts as the eyes and ears for the child, using sign language, voice, touch, visual cues or whatever works best for the child. When Deafblindness occurs with other disabilities, life becomes very challenging for both the affected child and their family.
Kids who are Deafblind and their families get information, resources, training and a helping hand whenever needed from the Canadian Deafblind Association as they help them navigate through Deafblindness. Their goal is to ensure that all the kids they support get the opportunity to live a full, meaningful childhood. Programs like Summer Intervention for school aged kids, Early Intervention for kids under five and Hospital Intervention for all ages allows families to access intervention that would be unavailable to them without the CDBA to help. Once school is done, the CDBA can help the kids and their families’ transition through to housing options outside the home with other sister organizations.
There are over 2000 children in Canada who are identified as being Deafblind. While this may seem like a small number, the amount of assistance that each child needs is immeasurable. The disability itself is very isolating – not only for the child who is Deafblind but for their family. Without the assistance of the CDBA, these families would struggle not only to find the assistance they need, but to find the network of support that they are provided. The financial and social burden that the families would have to bear is staggering.
To discover more about this fascinating charity and what they do in your community check out their websites:
CDBA-BC Chapter: cdbabc.ca
CDBA-Ontario Chapter: cdbaontario.com
If you have a favourite charity that you would love to see profiled, please let us know and if you have any personal stories of how the Canadian Deafblind Association has helped someone you know or been active in your community we’d love it if you’d share them using the comment functionality at the bottom of this article on the yoyomama site.
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