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Knip said her family of seven can’t wait for their week filled with crafts and campfires, swimming and fishing, and spending time with others who live with��— or whose loved ones have��— low vision or sight loss.

“There’s this feeling of being at our home away from home,” Knip said. “Every year, it’s more and more special.”��

When the family began coming to CNIB Lake Joe in 2015, Sarah and her husband, Josh, had three kids, their two youngest with low vision.

Looking back on their first year, Knip said she remembers how relaxed her family felt at the camp. The cabins, the activities, the meals, the layout; each aspect was inclusive and accommodating to those with low vision or sight loss.

“We knew we could participate in everything,” Knip said of the weeklong program geared to families, not just kids and teens.

Now, the Knips treat CNIB Lake Joe as their big yearly holiday. They’ve missed only two years of camp since 2015, once for a family wedding and once in 2020 when the facility was closed due to COVID-19.

Nine years later, Sarah and Josh��have five children, three of whom have vision loss, and they still love the experience their kids have at CNIB Camp Joe. “Everyone is able to go off on their own in a safe environment that we are comfortable with them exploring,” she said.

Monique Pilkington, executive director of CNIB Lake Joe, said the camp is designed to give participants and families that sense of independence.

The CNIB Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides programs and advocates for those with low vision and sight loss, says its facility on Lake Joseph is the only fully accessible camp of its kind in Canada for people who have low vision or sight loss or are Deafblind, and their families.

“We have a very long history and long tradition; the camp opened in 1961,” Pilkington said. The camp is open to participants of all ages. Every summer, CNIB Lake Joe welcomes more than 600 campers.

Pilkington said registration fees are highly subsidized to lower barriers for participants. Still, some families save for two years to attend camp. She said the Fresh Air Fund will help provide opportunities for more campers.

Some participants attend the camp with siblings or a friend, which Pilkington said helps build community “and is part of the magic of Lake Joe.”

The camp runs a variety of programs: some geared specifically for children and youth, some for families and some to build leadership skills, including sessions for counsellors-in-training. No matter their age, Pilkington said participants find ways to have fun, whether on the climbing wall, playing mini putt, doing arts and crafts, swimming or taking part in water sports, from kayaking to wakeboarding.

All the activities and every part of the facility is accessible to those with low vision or sight loss. That allows participants to feel safe and supported and helps them build life skills and try new things, Pilkington said. “They come away with a new-found confidence.”

For the Knips, who live in Exeter, a rural community about 40 km north of London, Ont., this year’s camp experience will be a bit different.

Sixteen-year-old Caleb, the oldest of Sarah and Josh’s five kids and who is sighted, is a first-time counsellor. He was seven when he first went to CNIB Lake Joe and watched his younger brother, Keagan, then five, participate in all the camp activities.

The family’s three children with low vision��— Keagan, 14, Avery, 11, and Nora, six��— have achromatopsia, an inherited retinal disease that prevents people from seeing colour, causes extreme light sensitivity and leads to��low vision.

Knip said the CNIB Lake Joe facilities, including its accessible boardwalks without steps or changes in elevation, and its counsellors trained in helping those with sight loss and low vision, ensure her kids get the full camp experience. Last year, her kids made textured artwork using putties and thick paints to create a tactile painting.

This August, when the family arrives at CNIB Lake Joe, Knip can’t wait to see Caleb in his counsellor role. They’re also looking forward to reconnecting with staff and other families they’ve met over the years.

While her kids have a long list of favourite camp traditions, Knip knows what they will do first: drop their bags in the cabin and rush to the lake for a swim. Nora, especially, loves the water and has been practising at the local pool.

“Nora’s goal is to pass the swim test so she can swim without a life-jacket,” Knip said, adding it’s those kinds of milestones that her kids are able to achieve at the camp.

“It lets them have a sense of freedom.”

The money from donations helps more kids enjoy the freedom and fun of a camp experience. Every dollar counts.