[Cinci-nfb] National Federation of the Blind of Cincinnati, Meeting Minutes for April 2018 (Revised)

Thu May 17 16:50:55 UTC 2018

National Federation of the Blind of Cincinnati

Meeting Minutes for April 2018

1.       The April 2018 meeting of the National Federation of the Blind of
Cincinnati was convened by President Sheri Albers at 2:00 P.M. Saturday
April 28 2018 at the Washington Platform Restaurant at 1000 Elm Street,
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. In Attendance were: President Sheri Albers, Vice
President Deanna Lewis, Emily Pennington, Christopher Sabine, Joy Thomas,
Diane Carmony, Lisa Hall, Kim McEachirn and Walter Mitchell. Rickie Ruzicka,
Judy Cook Gloria Robinson from the Miami Valley Chapter and Barbara Penney
attended this month's meeting as guests of the Chapter. Judy Cook did not
renew her membership at this time but contributed a $5 donation to Chapter
fundraising efforts.

2.       Emily Pennington moved to approve the March 2018 Chapter minutes as
emailed; Deanna Lewis seconded. The motion passed.

3.       Emily Pennington gave this month's Treasurer's Report. Christopher
Sabine moved that the Treasurer's Report be approved. Deanna Lewis seconded,
and the motion passed.

4.       Sheri Albers expressed that Richard Payne, President of the Ohio
Affiliate, has asked all Chapters and Divisions to make contributions (to
the extent able) to the fund for Ohio's participation in Washington Seminar
and Columbus Seminar, the Ohio Affiliate's own legislative event held
earlier this month. Sheri indicated that funding from Chapters is especially
needed this year, as Columbus Seminar was a two-day event: 27 members of the
Ohio Affiliate Participated. Sheri sent an email to members of the Chapter
Board prior to today's meeting, and the Board agreed to present a motion to
the Chapter to allocate $200 to this fund. Deanna Lewis moved to allocate
$200 to the Ohio Affiliate to help cover the costs of participation in the
Columbus Seminar. Emily Pennington seconded, and the motion passed. 

5.       Christopher Sabine gave a report from the Membership Committee,
which met by telephone conference at 7:00 P.M. on Monday April 23 2018 at
7:00 P.M. Christopher expressed that prior to this meeting, he contacted
Pastor Jackson from Friendship Baptist Church per Lisa Hall's recommendation
concerning a membership outreach event at the church. Pastor Jackson has
agreed that this event would be a fit for his congregation and will have his
senior pastor contact Christopher directly. Christopher also discussed
efforts by Walter Mitchell to organize an event at the new Prospect Baptist
Church in Roselawn. Christopher reported that plans are being forwarded to
the Rev. Damon Lynch, the church's pastor. Walter's contact will be
organizing a meeting with Rev. Lynch in the coming weeks. The Committee also
agreed to organize a visit to long time member Marion King during the second
week of June 2018. Finally, Christopher indicated that an issue with the
Chapter's Facebook Page is being addressed where those who have ""Liked" the
page are not receiving notifications of new posts to the page. Christopher
asked all members to contact him if they are receiving notifications from
the Facebook Page. 

6.       Sheri Albers reported that she was approached by the recreation
coordinator of a local "acute" mental health facility concerning a patient
who is dealing with Blindness-related issues and concerns about staff's lack
of knowledge of effectively working with Blind patients. She reported that
she is in the process of obtaining authorization from the patient's family
to visit him on Tuesday May 1. She also expressed that she is forming a task
force of Chapter members to meet with staff of the facility to conduct a
training for their staff on how to work with a blind patient in the future.
This training has yet to be scheduled. Sheri asked that anyone interested in
serving on this task force to contact her directly or through the Cincy-Talk
Listserv. 

7.       Sheri Albers reported that Annie McEachirn Carson has contacted
3CDC regarding the Chapter's White Cane Awareness Day event. This year's
event is reportedly set to take place on Monday October 8 2018, as Fountain
Square will be off limits after that date to accommodate installation of the
skating rink for the Holiday Season. The cost of the event is $156.40-the
same as last year's event. This includes two tables with three chairs each
plus $25 / hour for a staff person to monitor the event for four hours. Per
the motion passed at the March 2018 Chapter meeting, Sheri Albers authorized
Emily Pennington, Treasurer, to issue a check for $156.40 to 3CDC to reserve
the Square for this event. There was no further discussion or action taken
at this time.

8.       Sheri led a discussion on whether the Chapter will have items to
sell at the Ohio Affiliate Table at the National Federation of the Blind
Annual Convention, which is currently scheduled for July 3-8 2018 in
Orlando, Florida. Sheri reported that she needs to determine this at today's
meeting, as she needs to forward this information by May 4 to Suzanne
Turner, who is in charge of Ohio's Table at National Convention. Lisa Hall
and Emily Pennington expressed that they will be attending. After some
discussion, it was agreed that Kim McEachirn will produce 100 puzzle books
to sell at National Convention for $5 apiece--absorbing all production
costs. Each puzzle book will be dedicated to Immediate Past Chapter
President Deborah Kendrick and include inspirational quotations written by
her.

9.       Gloria Robinson from the Miami Valley Chapter discussed the
Fundraising Committee's plans for a spaghetti dinner, which she is
organizing. Plans are for this event to take place at the Clovernook
Center's Procter Center, but a date has yet to be announced. Preliminary
details of the event, including food items, the kitchen facilities at the
Procter Center, fliers and the availability of door prizes for the event
were discussed. Gloria reported that volunteers will be needed to work the
kitchen, serve and staff a table with NFB literature at this event. Planning
for this event is still ongoing.

10.   Sheri Albers indicated that the Affiliate's participation in the
Flying Pig Half Marathon on May 6 is moving forward as scheduled. Thanks
were offered to Deanna Lewis for making this possible by registering more
than ten people. Sheri expressed that she believes the Affiliate has enough
people to qualify for the $500 award from event organizers. 

11.   Sheri Albers reported that volunteers are being recruited for Ohio's
Bell Program, which is set for June 24- 30 2018 at the Ohio State School for
the Blind in Columbus.  Rachel Kuntz is coordinating the Ohio Bell Program
for 2018 and will be sharing further information concerning the program for
prospective volunteers.

12.   Sheri Albers gave an update on the Columbus Seminar, Ohio's
legislative event held earlier this month. She expressed that participants
had a "very successful time" meeting with legislators at the State Capitol.
She expressed that H.R. 303, Ohio's service animal relief bill, is in
committee but is not yet scheduled for a hearing. HB 309, Ohio's parental
rights bill, is currently in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sheri reported
that during a meeting with Senator Cecil Thomas (R-Cincinnati),, in which
Deanna Lewis also attended, she was told that the Senate Judiciary Committee
had just heard sponsor testimony from the bill's sponsors in the House,
Representative Ann Gonzales (R-Westerville) and Representative Jeff Rezabek
(R-Clayton). Senator Thomas expressed enthusiasm for the bill's chances of
becoming law and its impact on the Blind of Ohio. Sheri and Deanna also met
with Senator Bill Colley (R-Liberty Township), who is the vice chair of this
committee, and received favorable feedback. Finally, Sheri indicated that a
draft of The Accessible Prescription Information Act has been written,
sponsored in the House by Rep. Richard Brown (D-Canal Winchester).
Representative Anne Gonzales has also expressed interest in sponsoring this
bill. This first draft, based on a law passed in Nevada, only requires
pharmacies to provide information on how patients can obtain accessible
prescriptions. It also excludes mail order pharmacies. Sheri expressed that
our legislative committee is working with Rep. Brown's office to modify the
language to become the bill that we are looking for.

13.   Christopher Sabine gave a report regarding his keynote address and
workshop on Optic Nerve Hypoplasia for Iowa Educational Services for the
Blind and Visually Impaired earlier this month.

14.   Lisa Hall discussed her visit to Washington D.C. earlier this month as
nominee for Employee of the Year at the Clovernook Center for the Blind. 

15.   Sheri Albers led a discussion of low expectations of sighted coworkers
toward Blind colleagues in the workplace and other settings.

16.   The Chapter agreed to hold its next meeting on Saturday May 26 at 1:00
P.M. at the Washington Platform Restaurant in Downtown Cincinnati.

17.   Deanna Lewis presented this month's auction item, which was sold to
Judy Cook.

18.   The April 2018 meeting of the National Federation of the Blind of
Cincinnati was adjourned at approximately 3:49 P.M. on Saturday April 28
2018.

Respectfully Submitted,

Christopher Sabine

Secretary

National Federation of the Blind of Cincinnati

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