Fame doesn't always mean film festival red carpets or glitzy parties with champagne. For Becki Zerr's son, Bennett, his mom is famous because of the work she does for Accessible Media Inc.
"I have serious street cred," Becki says with a laugh. "He thinks I’m super-cool and famous. For Bennett to see me in-studio actually doing it ... from his perspective I think it was pretty cool. He has been talking about it at school for months."
"It" was Becki's recent visit to AMI, when the Regina native and her family spent two days in Toronto. Becki, who serves as a community reporter for Live from Studio 5 and does a monthly health report for Kelly and Company, was in-studio on both AMI-audio programs, received a tour of the office and met staff. The registered nurse, certified reflexologist, wife and mother joined AMI in July 2017; it was while serving on the board of her local CNIB that Becki learned AMI was looking for a community reporter. She jumped at the opportunity to work with a company she believes is important.
"I didn’t grow up in the blind community," Becki says. "I was partially sighted my entire life with total blindness in my right eye. It was all new to me and I found it kind of comforting to find this community and this station that is talking about stuff that pertains to me. I keep joking, saying that when you go blind you should get a manual because it felt like I was trying to pave the way for myself when I know that there are lots of intelligent people out there who have already done it. AMI has been such an enriching opportunity in that respect."
To prepare for her Live from Studio 5 segments, Becki relies on her ties with the CNIB, connects with members of the Saskatchewan South Visually Impaired Facebook group and takes notes from television broadcasters' community calendars. She then reaches out to organizers to confirm details and, in the case of a scarf-making club, suggested adapting a class for the blind and partially-sighted community.
As for Bennett—a die-hard Maple Leafs fan—the chance to watch his team play and a visit to the Hockey Hall of Fame were thrilling, perhaps as much as watching his mother in-studio.
"I know that he’s going to go home and tell everyone about it and educate younger kids about the world of accessibility. It’s become very normal in his world."