[Cinci-nfb] National Federation of the Blind of Cincinnati, Meeting Minutes for November 2017

Christopher Sabine, ONH Consulting info at onhconsulting.com
Sat Dec 23 15:15:16 UTC 2017


National Federation of the Blind of Cincinnati

Meeting Minutes for November 2017

 

1.       The November 2017 meeting of the National Federation of the Blind
of Cincinnati was convened at approximately 2:05 P.M. by President Deborah
Kendrick at the Washington Platform Restaurant in Downtown Cincinnati. In
attendance were: Deborah Kendrick, Judy Rudig, Paul Dressell, Bernie
Dressell, Diane Carmony, Deanna Lewis, Joy Thomas, Lisa Hall, Christopher
Sabine, Paul Jordan, Walter Mitchell, Jean Selvidge, Annie McEachirn Carson,
Sheri Albers, Kim McEachirn and Parnell Diggs. Marianne Denning, President
of the Ohio Association to promote the Use of Braille, attended today's
meeting as a guest of the Chapter. There was a "mini-blind" this month: "In
what year did you first attend an NFB event?"

 

2.       There was no Treasurer's Report; Emily Pennington indicated to
Deborah in advance that she could not attend today's meeting, and no one
else was available to present it.

 

3.       Walter Mitchell moved to approve the October minutes as emailed;
Sheri Albers seconded. The motion passed.

 

4.       Annie McEachirn gave a report from the Recreation Committee, which
consisted of an update concerning the annual Chapter Christmas Party
scheduled for December 9 2017 at the Northgate Red Lobster (3564 Springdale
Road). Annie expressed that donations from attendees will go to St. Vincent
de Paul.

 

5.       Walter began the Fundraising Committee report, which revolved
around the success of the "meet the Blind" T shirt campaign. Kim McEachirn
concluded the report by announcing that the last remaining nine T shirts are
being returned to the Chapter and are available for members to purchase.

 

6.       Christopher Sabine gave a report of the Membership Committee, which
met by telephone conference on Monday November 27 2017 from 7:00  P.M. to
approximately 7:30 P.M. Christopher Sabine, Dale Barta and Walter Mitchell
attended. Christopher expressed that the meeting consisted of a status
update on outreach efforts. He is supporting Dale Barta with his efforts to
organize an event at the Vineyard Church in Springdale and is reaching out
to the church's director of communications for this purpose. He reported
that the committee agreed to hold at least one outreach event per quarter.
He expressed that Walter Mitchell, Lisa Hall and Dave Perry also have
outreach efforts in the works and encouraged all Chapter members to organize
events in their communities.

 

7.       Deborah Kendrick gave a brief overview of the availability of ABLE
accounts to Blind people. ABLE, established by the passage of the Achieving
a Better Life Experience Act by the Obama Administration in 2014, allows
people with disabilities to open tax-free investment accounts that can be
used for disability related expenses. Funds placed in an ABLE Account are
also not counted against income limits for people receiving SSI, SSDI or
Medicaid benefits and can be used for a wide variety of expenses, including
housing, health care, transportation and technology. ABLE is a
federally-funded program administered by each state; Ohio's program is
operated by the Ohio Secretary of State's office. Further information on
ABLE accounts is available at http://www.able-now.com. Deborah expressed
that a live Webinar is scheduled for Wednesday December 6 at 1:00 P.M.
Deborah reported that she was able to apply for an ABLE account accessibly
through the Ohio program's Web site and shared that this could be a valuable
resource for Blind people as well as those with other disabilities.

 

8.       Marianne Denning conducted a guest presentation on a new $30,000
grant funded by Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities to provide
uncontracted Braille instruction to the Blind of Ohio-with emphasis on those
in rural or remote areas. Marianne expressed that the program is spearheaded
by Richard Payne, Sheri Albers and Debbie Baker from the Ohio Affiliate. It
will serve 16 Blind clients ages 14 or older in all 88 Ohio counties.
Participants do not need to be OOD Consumers. Each participant will be
assigned a mentor who will provide individualized instruction remotely under
the supervision of Marianne and Debbie Baker, who will serve as teachers.
Each participant will be given a Perkins Brailler and slate and stylus, and
the McDuffy Reader will be used for instruction-as it uses the Unified
English Braille Code. Mentors will be matched to program participants as
closely as possible. Marianne expressed that initial trainings for
prospective mentors will be offered in Cleveland, Toledo, Dayton and
Columbus. There will be no training in Cincinnati, as it was felt that the
Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired was already
providing high quality Braille instruction. However, this will not exclude
prospective mentors from the Cincinnati area from participating. Mentors
will receive $10 per hour for their participation, and a training for all
mentors on program guidelines will be held in Columbus in February. Sheri
Albers is reportedly working on a brochure to promote the Braille program
which will be disseminated statewide. Marianne and Debbie are also meeting
with all Ohio NFB Chapters, local chapters of the American Council of the
Blind, John Mitchell from the Cincinnati Association for the Blind and
Visually Impaired, representatives from the Clovernook Center and other
interested parties in the state to recruit participants. The aim of this
grant is to enhance the employability of Blind participants and demonstrate
to OOD the crucial role of quality Braille instruction to increase the
employment rate of the Blind of Ohio. Anyone interested in becoming a mentor
or program participant or seeking further information about this program can
contact Marianne by phone at (513) 607-6053 or email her at
Marianne at denningweb.com.

 

9.       Today's meeting concluded with the Chapter's 2017 bi-annual
elections. The Chapter voted on nominees for the offices of President, Vice
President, Treasurer, Secretary and three at-large Board positions. Three
incumbents, President Deborah Kendrick and Board members Kim McEachirn and
David Perry, expressed a desire to withdraw from service and will not be
considered for office at this time. The following Chapter members were
elected to the Board of Directors of the National Federation of the Blind of
Cincinnati for the 2017-2019 term: Sheri Albers was elected President.
Deanna Lewis was elected Vice President, Emily Pennington was elected
Treasurer. Christopher Sabine was elected Secretary. Paul Jordan, Annie
McEachirn Carson and Paul Dressell were each elected to at large Board
positions.

 

10.    The November 2017 meeting of the National Federation of the Blind of
Cincinnati was adjourned at approximately 3:40 P.M on Saturday December 2
2017.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

Christopher Sabine

Secretary

National Federation of the Blind of Cincinnati

 

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