“I Wanted to Be More Than My Disability”
“Most of my life I’ve been told what I couldn’t do,” says Candy, age 20, who is partially sighted. “I started believing it. I wanted to see if I could read print. If I could cook independently. If I could travel on my own.”
Feeling lost
But before she found Wayfinder, Candy was feeling lost. She had enrolled in college after high school graduation but did not know how to advocate for the support services she needed for her vision loss.
“I failed my classes and left college after one semester,” she recalls. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.”
Candy gains confidence
Then Candy learned about Wayfinder. She enrolled in Wayfinder’s four-week summer program for teens and young adults with vision loss. While living in a college dorm with other participants, she explored careers and learned how to write a cover letter, apply for a job and conduct herself in an interview.
“Overall I found a sense of community,” Candy remembers. “Growing up, I didn’t know anyone with a visual impairment.”
With budding confidence, Candy entered Wayfinder’s Davidson Program for Independence, an immersive residential program for adults with visual disabilities. She learned braille and assistive technology, how to safely function in a kitchen, as well as how to use a white cane and to travel solo on a bus. All the skills needed to be independent.
“I got good at cooking right away,” Candy says. “My family had been afraid of me cutting myself or getting burned in the kitchen.”
While still in the Davidson program, Candy heard that Wayfinder’s Camp Bloomfield, a summer camp for children, adults and families with visual or multiple disabilities, needed counselors.
She got the job.
“Her empathy and natural ability to connect with human beings made her a great counselor,” says Annelie Du Plessis, director of recreation services.
Candy realizes her potential
After a year in the Davidson program, Candy had gained confidence, patience and skills that boosted her independence. As she prepared to graduate, the Wayfinder team had a big surprise for Candy. They offered her a job as an independent living skills assistant.
“I was very excited, very shocked,” Candy recalls. “But overall I was really grateful that other people could see the potential I had. In high school, people would say to me, ‘You are doing a lot for someone who is disabled.’ I wanted to be more than my disability.”
Since Candy joined the team, she has helped other adults with vision loss be more than their disability.
Candy is returning to college to pursue a degree in human services while continuing to work at Wayfinder. Unlike three years ago, she is ready this time, thanks to Wayfinder—and thanks to your support. Candy is going to succeed!
Transformative moments like Candy’s depend on friends like you. We cannot do this important work without our generous donors. Together, we will continue to change lives.
As Candy journeyed to independence, she made many stops at Wayfinder. In the summer program, she learned skills to join the workforce. In the Davidson program, she mastered all the skills she needed to be independent. She used her workforce skills to become a camp counselor at Wayfinder’s Camp Bloomfield. And now she is teaching others in the Davidson program, who may feel just as lost as she once did, how to become confident, skilled and independent. What a journey, Candy! Congratulations!
Please consider a gift to Wayfinder today: www.wayfinderfamily.org/donate.
November 25, 2025