<div style="color:black;font: 10pt arial;">Hi Maryanne,
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I'm catching up on emails and agree with the comments (and correction of typo) that others have said.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Do you want to update the letter and send it around again for a final review?</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Sincerely,</div>
<div>Noreen<br>
<br>
<br>
<div style="font-family:helvetica,arial;font-size:10pt;color:black"><font size="2">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Maryanne Melley via CT-NFB <ct-nfb@nfbnet.org><br>
To: 'Jim McCollum' <j.mccollum64@comcast.net>; 'Deb Reed' <deb.reed57@gmail.com><br>
Cc: maryanne.melley@gmail.com; bmartin1998@gmail.com; rmirdi@aol.com; 'NFB of Connecticut Mailing List' <ct-nfb@nfbnet.org><br>
Sent: Wed, Dec 8, 2021 11:50 am<br>
Subject: Re: [CT-NFB] Letter for Amy Porter<br>
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<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;">Deb, Nathanael, and Jim.</span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;">Thank you for your feedback. I will give the other members a little more time to respond. Then I will make the recommended changes and send the letter.</span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;">Best Regards,</span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;">Maryanne Melley</span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;">President</span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;">National Federation of the Blind of Connecticut</span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;">860-212-5549</span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;">maryanne.melley@gmail.com</span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;">Together with love, hope, and determination, we transform dreams into reality</span></div>
</div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<div id="yiv2221693222yqtfd76017" class="yiv2221693222yqt0747635456">
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> Jim McCollum <j.mccollum64@comcast.net> <br clear="none"><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, December 8, 2021 11:30 AM<br clear="none"><b>To:</b> Deb Reed <deb.reed57@gmail.com><br clear="none"><b>Cc:</b> Nathanael T. Wales <ntwales@omsoft.com>; NFB of Connecticut Mailing List <ct-nfb@nfbnet.org>; erival@comcast.net; marysilverfox@gmail.com; rmirdi@aol.com; veronicalalston@gmail.com; bmartin1998@gmail.com; maryanne.melley@gmail.com<br clear="none"><b>Subject:</b> Re: [CT-NFB] Letter for Amy Porter</div>
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<div id="yiv2221693222yqtfd05736" class="yiv2221693222yqt0747635456">
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<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal">Maryanne, </div>
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<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal">This letter is very concise and gets to the point, which I think is very good. I agree with Nathanael and Deb. Also, I suggest another change to point 1, to say, we don’t want services for the blind lumped in with those of other disabilities, because the blind have specific needs that would not be met. </div>
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<div style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;" class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"> </div>
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<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal">Jim Y. McCollum </div>
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<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal">Board Member and Legislative Coordinator </div>
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<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal">National Federation of the Blind of Connecticut </div>
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<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal">860-581-0430 </div>
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<div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:j.mccollum64@comcast.net" target="_blank" href="mailto:j.mccollum64@comcast.net">j.mccollum64@comcast.net</a></div>
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<div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal">Sent from my iPhone</div>
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<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><br clear="none"><br clear="none"></div>
<blockquote style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt;">
<div style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;" class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal">On Dec 8, 2021, at 11:14 AM, Deb Reed <<a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:deb.reed57@gmail.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:deb.reed57@gmail.com">deb.reed57@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</div>
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<blockquote style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt;">
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<div style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;" class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal">Thank you Maryanne for this very thoughtfulVery thoughtful letter.<br clear="none"> Very good edit Nathanael. In the sentence,”That is outrageous.“ Correct spelling of outrageous. In reference to Jolene Németh, you might soften criticism to say, although she is knowledgeable she is not a good instructor. I would replace the word “awful” with “ineffective”, in describing Jolene.</div>
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<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"> </div>
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<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal">Deborah J. Reed</div>
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<div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal">Central Chapter President</div>
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<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal">NFB of CT</div>
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<div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:Deb.reed57@gmail.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:Deb.reed57@gmail.com">Deb.reed57@gmail.com</a></div>
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<div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal">860-378-5370</div>
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<div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal">“Live the life you want, blindness is not what holds you back.” National Federation Of The Blind </div>
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<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"> </div>
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<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"> </div>
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<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"> </div>
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<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"> </div>
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<blockquote style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt;">
<div style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;" class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal">On Dec 8, 2021, at 10:58 AM, Nathanael T. Wales <<a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:ntwales@omsoft.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:ntwales@omsoft.com">ntwales@omsoft.com</a>> wrote:</div>
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<blockquote style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt;">
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<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D;">Maryanne,</span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D;">Thank you. I have one suggestion that I think would strengthen our first point about not allowing BESB to be subsumed into the larger department. Your first numbered point should remove the qualifier phrase “if there is to be one”. You should edit it to:</span></div>
<ol style="margin-top:0in;" start="1" type="1"><li style="margin-left:0in;" class="yiv2221693222MsoListParagraph">The new Director of BESB should be someone well versed in blind issues. They should only work with the blind. We do not want our services getting smaller and getting mixed in with other disabilities.</li></ol>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D;">We absolutely want there to be a BESB and a director, and phrasing it this way will make that even clearer. We may also want to add that we want someone with experience in best practices in the education and rehabilitation of the blind and the adjustment to blindness of blind seniors.</span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D;">Thank you for the quick and thoughtful turnaround of this letter. You’ve captured all of the concerns very well, and I hope my suggestion will make it all the better.</span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D;">Nathanael</span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D;"> </span></div>
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<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:sans-serif;">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:sans-serif;"> CT-NFB [<a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:ct-nfb-bounces@nfbnet.org" target="_blank" href="mailto:ct-nfb-bounces@nfbnet.org">mailto:ct-nfb-bounces@nfbnet.org</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Maryanne Melley via CT-NFB<br clear="none"><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, December 08, 2021 10:29 AM<br clear="none"><b>To:</b> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:erival@comcast.net" target="_blank" href="mailto:erival@comcast.net">erival@comcast.net</a>; <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:marysilverfox@gmail.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:marysilverfox@gmail.com">marysilverfox@gmail.com</a>; 'NFB of Connecticut Mailing List'; <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:rmirdi@aol.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:rmirdi@aol.com">rmirdi@aol.com</a>; <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:j.mccollum64@comcast.net" target="_blank" href="mailto:j.mccollum64@comcast.net">j.mccollum64@comcast.net</a>; <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:deb.reed57@gmail.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:deb.reed57@gmail.com">deb.reed57@gmail.com</a>; <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:veronicalalston@gmail.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:veronicalalston@gmail.com">veronicalalston@gmail.com</a>; <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:bmartin1998@gmail.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:bmartin1998@gmail.com">bmartin1998@gmail.com</a><br clear="none"><b>Cc:</b> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:maryanne.melley@gmail.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:maryanne.melley@gmail.com">maryanne.melley@gmail.com</a><br clear="none"><b>Subject:</b> [CT-NFB] Letter for Amy Porter</span></div>
</div>
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<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;">Hello Board Members,</span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;">Please review the attached letter for Amy Porter. Edit as you feel appropriate. I will then email it to her.</span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;">Thank you,</span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;">Maryanne Melley</span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;">President</span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;">National Federation of the Blind of Connecticut</span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;">860-212-5549</span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:maryanne.melley@gmail.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:maryanne.melley@gmail.com">maryanne.melley@gmail.com</a></span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:sans-serif;">Together with love, hope, and determination, we transform dreams into reality</span></div>
<div class="yiv2221693222MsoNormal"> </div>
</div>
</blockquote></div>
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