Help our Ceejay kick start her new blind life

My name is Ceejay aka Camille Joyce and I was diagnosed in 2014 with glaucoma.

 

It's gradually gotten worse over the years, but because of a failed operation in February 2020 my vision drastically declined.

 

When I lost my vision, I didn’t realize I would lose so much more; my career, my independence, my dreams and even my sense of identity.

 

All my plans have taken a sudden change and now I have to learn everything again from zero.

 

I’m working with groups in Toronto to gain new skills, but because they can’t come everyday, it’s been really hard to get my life back on track. I’m also receiving government assistance, but it still doesn’t cover all my living expenses.

 

My goal is to go to Blind Incorporated, a special training centre in Minneapolis that has a program called Adjustment to Being Blind.

 

It’s an all inclusive institution that teaches everything from daily living to technology and career skills. I’ll be living with all blind people and 90% of the instructors are blind too. I found this centre through a podcast my sister’s partner Juan recommended to me called Working Blind, where most of the people said they learned the skills that led them to be lawyers, teachers, musicians, business owners, programmers, etc.

 

My overall goal is to be happy and independent and to be living proof that blind people can work meaningful jobs. I desperately want to get back to my career of helping children and youth.

 

It’s my passion, I’ve been doing it since I was 18, working especially with children with special needs and behavioural issues, like when I worked at the Geneva Centre for Autism or after school program organizer for inner city youth at Davenport community centre.

 

I’ve done a lot of work with low income families and I want to help people from Parkdale, the neighbourhood I grew up in. I’ve come a long way from living on Jameson and losing my dad Louie in grade 8, then losing my boyfriend Carmelo before my high school prom. I still graduated university, worked my dream job and spent my 20’s right next to where I grew up, living on my own on Queen st. W.

 

I know I can conquer this.

 

I’ve overcome a lot in my life, and with your help I can overcome this too.

 

Camille Joyce Paguibitan aka Ceejay/CJ

October 2021

 

IG @biggceej
[email redacted][dot]com

 

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More info on Blind Incorporated

 

https://www.blindinc.org/

 

Blind Incorporated is a comprehensive training centre in Minneapolis that we believe is CJ’s best chance to get her life back.

 

They offer classes in communications, cane travel, home and personal management, industrial arts, career exploration, and seminars on blindness.

 

Blind Incorporated also has special field trips to show their students that just because they are blind, it doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy a wide variety of activities. Some examples are rock climbing, apple picking, canoeing, dog sledding, going to museums and more.

 

The purpose of this program is not just to teach CJ new life skills and give her fun activities, it’s also to give her firsthand experience with blind people that have successful careers, independent lives and know exactly what she’s going through.

 

Blind Incorporated is a private school, here are the approximate costs for the shortest possible program (3 months)

 

Monthly tuition cost $3000 US ($4500 CAD)

Flight round trip Toronto to Minneapolis, assisted travel $735~

Monthly food costs $200 - $300

Visa expenses, applications tbd

Health insurance, emergency health fund $200+

Travel costs, basic necessities $200~

Blind smart devices:

Orcam ($4500) a smart headset that attaches to glasses and tells user with audio how far away things are, scans barcodes and even recognizes faces through AR technology.

Blind square ($55) app to help navigation that gives audio cues about intersections etc.

 

Our lowest estimate would be somewhere around $22,000, with some money being used to help CJ adjust in Toronto before going to Blind Inc.

 

They usually recommend 9 months for the complete program in Minneapolis but 3 months is the minimum she can do before Visa protocols. After this initial session, there is opportunity for CJ to return and finish the program, but this all depends on how much money we can raise.

 

Matt Prata (friend, gofundme co-organizer)

 

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From her best friend:

 

My best friends glaucoma worsened just before the pandemic hit. After an unsuccessful surgery, she became clinically blind February 2020.

 

She moved back in with her parents in Mississauga and went into isolation during the time of covid, deeper and harder than anyone could ever imagined.

 

During the pandemic, the entire Canadian health care system crashed and many were left without support. For Ceej, it meant that the blind rehabilitation specialists that she could’ve accessed to help her with the transition weren’t able to make in person visits along with friends and family.

 

This summer, after she got vaccinated, her chosen sister Carmi and close friends supported her to make a leap to conquer her first dream: Ceej travelled solo to Winnipeg this past August for a month to stay with her friend Michelle and family for a much needed break from the most traumatic period of her life for the purpose of starting her acceptance and healing journey. 

 

Shortly after that, she then conquered her next dream: to live independently like she did before she got sick. She moved into an apartment right next door to me, her best friend and my partner Matt, in Toronto with the help of her stepbrother, Rich. 

 

She accomplished all this while on wait lists for ODSP, mental health support, social worker, etc. just like so many other people getting by with disability in Toronto post pandemic, who have to consistently prove themselves through countless bureaucracies just for basic needs.

 

Ceej being the champ that she is, she’s been gaining so much progress by being on her own with the help of friends and institutions like Balance, Vision Loss Rehabilitation Canada, CNIB aka Canadian National Institute for the Blind and we’ve been so proud of her, but truthfully, this week has been a hard one.

 

Just as she was coming up and fighting for her independence while working with her support  team to learn how to live blind… her sight deteriorated all the way. She went from seeing shadows and some shapes and coloured light to now only seeing just a blank sheet. 

 

This is why we have started this gofundme: to help her reach her next goal of attending Blind Inc., a blind school in the states that she discovered through a podcast titled Working Blind.

 

She’s small, has the best hair, and she’s a fighter. Please send love, hope, positivity and support if you are able to. Thank you in advance for your kindness, with whatever you are able to give. We actually can’t do it alone.

 

Emmy Grace (best friend, gofundme co-organizer)

 

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CJ has the strongest spirit and she has helped so many disadvantaged people, please help us kick start her new blind life <3

 

Rich (step-brother, gofundme co-organizer)