REGINA -- A woman living with visual impairment wants to let others know why Wascana Park is an important setting for the new headquarters for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB).
“The park is a much quieter, safer environment. So you can learn those critical skills you need and build your confidence before you have to go out and cross Broad Street. Which, you know, can be challenging,” Ashley Nemeth told CTV News.
Nemeth, a client and employee of the CNIB, says the institutes temporary location on Broad Street may be discouraging clients from showing up to learn crucial orientation skills.
She believes the quiet park is the perfect landscape for a blind person to learn the skills they need to become independent.
“My final exam was to go out and go from point A to point B using directions that were recorded on a tape,” Nemeth recalled. “I couldn't do it. I was terrified, I was crippled with fear.”
The Provincial Capital Commission (PCC) granted the construction of a Brandt building that will house the CNIB earlier this month. Since, Nemeth said there has been public outcry against construction of private buildings in the park.
“The park is a great environment for our clients to learn safety and mobility, so everything from navigating with a white cane to working with a guide dog,” Christall Beaudry, executive director of the CNIB Foundation Saskatchewan said.
The CNIB says the temporary location is not big enough. The new building will house a multipurpose room to help expand programming.
