After she was diagnosed in 2007 with disorders of the eyes that lead to blindness, Candy Jelinski fell into a depression.
Jelinski, who always had been very involved in her community, suddenly had to quit her job managing a Wendy’s restaurant and resign from her position coaching high school soccer in Michigan.
“My whole life got changed around, so you, of course, go into a dark place,” she said.
But when she moved to the Bay Area six years ago and joined Palo Alto’s Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, light began to penetrate that darkness.
The 54-year-old San Jose woman went on her first kayaking trip led by Vista’s Shared Paths program, and the experience boosted her confidence and inspired her to take on a long list of challenges she previously thought were out of her reach.
Jelinski became a sea kayaking guide herself, started taking classes at West Valley College in Saratoga for her associate degree and began working toward becoming a personal trainer. She’s taken up kickboxing, running, swimming and yoga and plans to compete in a triathlon next year.
“It’s given me a whole new perspective on what I can do,” she said.
To expand its services and reach more visually impaired people like Jelinski, Vista Center is hoping to raise $6,100 for Shared Paths to support clients on regular adventures that range from sea kayaking trips, yoga classes and theater productions with audio descriptions to hiking and other outdoor outings.
On a recent morning, a small group of Vista Center members arrived in Half Moon Bay for a tour of Sweet Farm — a three-year-old animal sanctuary that cares for rescued farm animals, grows fruits and vegetables and advocates a vegan lifestyle. Vista Center members walked the farm’s grounds, meeting quirky residents like Bruno, the one-eared goat; Polly, the chicken with extra toes on each foot; and Maggie, the tiny cow whose growth was stunted from malnutrition. They fed carrots to Maggie and the other cows, pet Paco the llama and his buddy, Sturgis, the 35-year-old horse, and learned about each animal’s history from Sweet Farm staff.
Her face inches from his, 71-year-old Mary Castellano cooed endearments to the brown-and-white llama on the other side of the fence.
“Hi, Paco! How are you, beautiful?”
It was her first time on a farm since she was a kid. And it was a trip Castellano, who suffers from vision loss caused by macular degeneration, never could have made on her own. But on this sunny, fall day in Half Moon Bay, Vista Center was there to lead.
“It provides opportunities for them to be physically active, which is hard for a lot of people with visual impairments,” said Valerie Campos, who serves as director of adult services, and orientation and mobility instructor, for the Vista Center. “And it provides a way for them to connect with others.”
Vista Center, which started in 1936 as the Palo Alto Society for the Blind, is a nonprofit that provides counseling, life skills classes, information services and more to community members who have experienced vision loss. The center charges a fee for some of its services, but people are never turned away, even if they can’t pay, Campos said. The center began offering its Shared Paths excursions about two years ago and now signs up between eight and 20 members for each trip.
On the Half Moon Bay trip, it was 51-year-old Mark Walton’s first time petting a cow, goat or horse. Walton, who works as a business consultant, lost about 80% of his vision to a degenerative illness. He was active and athletic before he began going blind but has since had to stop driving or playing sports. Now, Shared Paths is helping him return to that active lifestyle.
“I just have a broader outlook for what I can do for myself and how much I can enjoy life,” Walton said.
Walton is planning to travel to Costa Rica in February with Environmental Traveling Companions, the same organization that working with Shared Paths to support Jelinski’s kayaking trip. ETC offers outdoor activities for people with visual or hearing impairments, physical or developmental disabilities and life-threatening illnesses.
“I have no idea what excursions we’re going to do,” Walton said. “But I’m ready to do them all.”
As for Jelinksi, this year her life came full circle — she was the lead kayak during the Shared Paths outing in Tomales Bay.
“It was truly the blind leading the blind,” joked Jelinski.
Donations through Wish Book would allow Vista Center to host more trips and also to reduce or eliminate fees from the trips it currently offers. While hikes are free, overnight kayak trips are pricey — $120 per person.
“We really want to do other events and activities, we’re just limited in our funds,” Campos said. “Very limited. We have zero funding right now, actually.”
To donate, volunteer or learn more about Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, visit vistacenter.org, call 650-858-0202 or email info@vistacenter.org.
THE WISH BOOK SERIES
The Wish Book is an annual series of The Mercury News that invites readers to help their neighbors.
WISH
Donations will help Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired fund its Shared Paths program, which offers outdoor activities for adults with vision loss. Goal: $6,100
HOW TO GIVE
Donate at wishbook.mercurynews.com or mail in the coupon.
ONLINE EXTRA
Read other Wish Book stories, view photos and video at wishbook.mercurynews.com
