You can contact us at
Voice: 506-633-0599
TTY: 506-634-8037
Fax : 506-652-3382
Cell : 506-333-6526
Address:
324 Duke Street West
Saint John, NB E2M 1V2
Open Monday to Friday
8:30 am to 4:30 pm
Closed from Noon till 1 pm
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Bridging the gap...
Working together we can make a difference.
Definition of 'Deaf'
The Issue
How do we define deafness?
The Canadian Association of the Deaf's (CAD) position
Deafness is medically defined by the extent of loss of functional hearing and by dependence upon visual communication.
CAD recognizes a person to be medically/audiologically deaf when that person has little or no functional hearing and depends upon visual rather than auditry communication. "Visual means of communication' includes Sign Language, lipreading, speechreading, and reading and writing. "Auditory means of communication" includes voice, hearing, and hearing aids and devices.
To read more of this article from the Canadian Association of the Deaf click here.
SJDHHS is a member agency of the United Way of Greater Saint John
Meet the Staff of SJDHHS
Office Staff
Lynn LeBlanc - Executive Director
Lynn started out with the agency in 1993 as the Employment Counselor. In 1996 she was promoted to the Executive Director's position. She grew up in Moncton, New Brunswick and was an active member and volunteer in the dear community there before moving to Saint John. Lynn strongly believes in partnering with the communities she works with and is an active member of the deaf community and the interpreting community. She is fluent in English, ASL and French.
Rosemary Blanchard - Administrative Assistant
Rose started out on a short-term placement in September of 2006 and then became a permanent fixture in the office in January 2007. Rose is a hard of hearing consumer herself, which goes a long way in our assistive, listening device sales portion of the agency. Rose was born and raised in Saint John, New Brunswick and is a valued added member of our team.
New Brunswick Visual Language Interpreter Services (NBVLIS)
Professional Interpreters.
Shelley Williams
Shelley is originally from London, Ontario and has been interpreting since 1990. She moved to the Maritimes in 1993 and then on to Saint John in 1994 on a permanent basis. Shelley works in the area of community interpreting around the province. She is a Past President and a founding member of the Association of Visual Language Interpreters of New Brunswick (AVLI-NB) and an active member of the Association of Visual Language Interpreters of Canada (AVLIC).
Ginnie Black
Ginnie is originally from Burlington, Ontario and has been interpreting since 1997. She began her career in the public school system under APSEA and moved on to post-secondary education in Fredericton, New Brunswick. She moved to Moncton, New Brunswick in 2005 and now works in the community in Moncton and the surrounding areas. She is a Past President and founding member of AVLI-NB and is an active member of AVLIC.
Becky Schirato
Becky is originally from Windsor, Ontario and has been interpreting since 2003. She moved to Fredericton, New Brunswick after doing her placement in Saint John and started her career in the public school system under APSEA. She has been working in the post-secondary field since 2005 and provides services within the community as well as her post-secondary duties. Becky is a Past President of AVLI-NB and is an active member of AVLIC.
Pam Scott
Pam is originally from Liverpool, Nova Scotia and has been interpreting since 2003. She began her career in the public school system in Springhill, Nova Scotia under ASPEA. She then took a transfer with APSEA to Fredericton, New Brunswick. She moved to post-secondary interpreting in the fall of 2006 where she does work with the community as well as her post-secondary duties. She is a past executive member of AVLI-NB and an active member of AVLIC.
Jenifer Hunter
Jenifer is originally from Saint John, New Brunswick and has been interpreting since 2003. She began her career in the post-secondary field in Halifax, Nova Scotia and transferred back to Saint John with ASPEA in 2006. She does some interpreting in the community as well as her duties in the public school system. She is an active member of AVLI-NB and AVLIC.
Carly Jones
Carly is originally from Brampton, Ontario, and began studying Sign Language at George Brown College in Toronto. In 2007 she moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia to attend Nova Scotia Community College's ASL/English Interpreter Program. Upon completing the program Carly moved to Fredericton, New Brunswick in 2009 to begin her interpreting career at the post-secondary level. In addition, she interprets part-time in the Community. Carly is an active member of AVLIC and AVLI-NB
Tammy Pyper
Tammy is originally from Edmonton, Alberta and graduated from Douglas College's Interpreter Training Program in Vancouver, British Columbia, June of 2010. She moved to Fredericton after doing a placement in Saint John with SJDHHS in January of 2010. She is now interpreting at the post-secondary level along with interpreting in the community. She is an active member of both provincial associations AVLI-NB and WAVLI, and is a member of her national association, AVIC.
