HOW WE STARTEDWhen Ruth Williams found that her macular degeneration had made her legally blind, she was devastated. She reached out to her optometrist and the low-vision clinic at the Royal Victoria Hospital for advice and support. With their encouragement, Ruth acquired inspiration: she would develop an association in her home town of Pointe Claire so that people of the area with vision loss could get together to help themselves as well as each other. The meetings would be both informative and social, ending with tea being served; Volunteer drivers would be found for anyone who did not have transportation; the group would host a concert at Christmas time for the benefit of MAB; members would go on a daytime outing in June, the last meeting until September. Ruth set that agenda as president in 1988 and it forms the basics of the meetings to this day. |
TODAYWe have a membership of about 50 persons most of whom reside in the West Island communities of Montreal. About 25 to 30 attend our monthly meetings, including some volunteers, supporters and visitors. Most of us are clients of MAB-Mackay Rehabilitation Centre and many of us borrow our audiobooks from the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA). We have a summer outing trip in June, travelling by coach to an interesting site and then to a restaurant for lunch. We host a Christmas Concert featuring a local choir who performs a benefit concert for us as our annual fund raising event. Some of our members like to attend the guided tours that are provided at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts specifically for persons with low vision. Individual interest of our members vary widely and include reading, music, dancing, games, sports, painting, crafts, gardening and enjoying nature. Our annual membership fee is $10. |
Photos of Recent Activities
Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors meets monthly to plan and coordinate the details of of our meetings and activities. They are elected by the membership at our May meeting. Each year half of the Board members are elected, each for a two year term.
John Ohberg - President
Leo A. Bissonnette, Ph.D. - Vice-President, Chair Program Committee
Eve Dalphond - Treasurer
Johanna van de Wygerd - Secretary
Paul Bissonnette - Director, Coordinator Volunteer Drivers
Karin Godin - Director, Chair Membership and Telephone Committee
Claude Houssais - Director
John Ohberg - President
Leo A. Bissonnette, Ph.D. - Vice-President, Chair Program Committee
Eve Dalphond - Treasurer
Johanna van de Wygerd - Secretary
Paul Bissonnette - Director, Coordinator Volunteer Drivers
Karin Godin - Director, Chair Membership and Telephone Committee
Claude Houssais - Director