[IABS-Talk] april at large minutes
datemeyer at sbcglobal.net
datemeyer at sbcglobal.net
Sat Apr 27 18:21:23 UTC 2024
NFBI AT LARGE CHAPTER MINUTES
April 7th, 2024
ZOOM Meeting
CALL TO ORDER
At Large Chapter President David Meyer's called the meeting to order at 7:00
PM. David Meyer announced that the meeting would be held in a different
order tonight because one key player would not be able to stay for the
duration of the meeting. Persons in attendance included: President David
Meyer, Vice President Linda Hendle, Secretary/Treasurer Bill Reif, Cathy
Randel, Debbie Pittman, Marilyn Green, Jemal Powell, Leslie Hamric, Yvonne
Agyarko, and Michelle Ault.
ELECTIONS
Bill Reif announced that we have a quorum and we started the meeting with
the elections being the first item. We began with the election of At Large
Chapter President and for that Vice President Linda Hendle was asked to
take over the meeting with nominations being open for At Large Chapter
President. Marilyn Green nominated David Meyer and Bill Reif seconded the
nomination. David accepted and there were not any other nominations after
Linda Hendle asked three times. Bill Reif moved that nominations ceased and
that David be elected by acclamation. All those in favor said
"aye" and no one opposed. David thanked everyone for the confidence we have
in him and said he will do his best. Cathy thanked him for the confidence
he has in the Chapter. David Meyer then took over meeting and opened
nominations for the Vice President. Debbie Pittman nominated Linda Hendle
and she accepted. It was asked three times if there were any further
nominations and there were none. Debbie moved and Bill seconded. Linda said
she will do her very best and thanked everyone for having her again. Next
up was nominations for office of Secretary/Treasurer. Bill Reif announced
how much he enjoyed being Secretary through the years and wanted to
recognize and make way for other people who have not done it as long as he
has. He would like to graciously step aside, not step down, and plans to be
involved in the Chapter. He is not running for Secretary at this time.
David thanked him for his years of service and asked for nominations. Bill
Reif nominated Michelle Ault. Bill stated he is more than willing to
provide assistance with the transition. Michelle Ault accepted and David
asked if there were any further nominations three times. Cathy moved and
Debbie seconded. Michelle said she looks forward to this. Next, the first
board position was nominated. Bill nominated Debbie for first board
position and Debbie accepted. No further nominations were presented and
Bill moved and Cathy seconded. Debbie thanked everyone. Board position two
currently being held by Cathy Randel and Marilyn nominated Cathy and she
accepted. No other nominations after David asked three times and Debbie
moved and we had a second. Cathy thanked everyone and said she will do her
best to fulfill the job and she takes is seriously.
FUNDRAISING
In addition to the Honey Baked Ham Fundraiser, Debbie suggested that we
start the Double Good Popcorn Fundraiser right away. There was some
concerns about having two fundraisers at the same time. It was motioned by
Cathy and seconded by Linda to have the Popcorn Fundraiser. The lead time
should not be such an issue as long as the chapter advertises, getting the
word out by the email list, sending text messages, and using social media.
This means that the chapter has to be more active in advertising it since
it is such a short amount of time. Debbie said she would set up a new link
for the Double Good Popcorn and it was determined the dates will be April
15th thru the 18th for the Popcorn Fundraiser. Debbie moved and Linda
seconded the date. It was also suggested that we could advertise to
Graduates and to Father's for Father's Day.
NATIONAL PRESIDENTIAL RELEASE
President Mark Riccobono started the release by thanking Federationists all
over the country for reaching out to the National Office in Baltimore about
the recent collapse of the Key Bridge. None of the staff members were
directly impacted by this tragedy but it is a huge impact on our members
and transportation in the area and many other aspects of our day to day life
in Baltimore.
We had a busy March and one of the activities was to hold our 16th Annual
Jacobus tenBroeck Disability Law Symposium. We had another great success
where we are bringing together disability rights advocates and the legal
scholars to talk about how WE drive the direction of disability laws in
this country. He encourages all of us who are interested in disability
rights law to think about being present for our next law symposium next
year.
Our National Convention is being held in Orlando, Florida being held on July
3rd thru July 8th. We have some new activities being undertaken by our
Deaf/Blind Division. The President of that division is Maurice Mines and
that division is looking for volunteers at the convention to assist with
ensuring that deaf/blind members requiring some additional support to fully
participate in the convention can do so. Maurice said that volunteers are
needed to serve as special support providers during the convention and if
they would like to help out they should fill out the questionnaire that's
the survey form on our website. That form can be found at NFB.org/convention
under the SSP volunteer link on that page, SSP volunteer. Those who have
experience with tactile signs are even more strongly encouraged to
volunteer their time. All volunteers are expected to adhere to the
Federations Code of Conduct and also be asked to participate in the training
at the convention on July 3rd at 10:00 AM. The deadline to express interest
in volunteering is May 31st, the same as online registration for the
convention. If you are a deaf/blind individual and you would like to
benefit from this support you should send a email to:
Presidentdeafblindnfb at mauricemines.org
<mailto:Presidentdeafblindnfb at mauricemines.org> . Subject line should be "I
am requesting volunteer SSP assistant at 2024 National Convention". His
contact information can also be found on the website relating to the
deaf/blind division.
One of our partners is the American Action Fund for Blind Children. The
Action Fund will again be sponsoring the Braille Book at this years
convention in Orlando. The Book Fair is scheduled for July 5th. This is a
great opportunity for individuals to come by and get their hands on Braille
books that others have donated. If individuals would like to donate books,
please make sure they are in good enough condition for others to put on
their bookshelves. We are looking for gently used books for readers of all
levels and in most genres. The Book Fair does not accept Bibles, Magazines,
or Text Books. The Action Fund notes that it is especially seeking Twin
Vision titles or Braille print titles, Kindergarten, first grade, and cook
books. If you have more than five books that you would like to send to the
book fair, the Action Fund requests that you please reach out to them
before sending them. You can email your list of books that you intend to
donate or if you have any questions to ask, send a email to:
BookFair at actionfund.org <mailto:BookFair at actionfund.org> . Donations should
be mailed to: American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults, Attention:
Braille Book Fair, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland, 21230.
President Mark Riccobono is also confident that the Action Fund as well as
our National Organization of Parents of Blind Children would love your
volunteer help to set up and put on the Book Fair at the National
Convention.
Next convention announcement comes from The National Association of Guide
Dog Users. NAGDU is excited to announce that the division will again be
offering National Convention Support Sponsorship for two guide dog user
teams in the amount of $500.00. You do not need to be a NAGDU member to
apply for the support but they do ask that you please read over the
sponsorship details including the sponsorship requirements carefully before
you apply. The links to the sponsorship information page and online
application can be found at nagdu.org/sponsorship.
Applications for our 2024 Teacher of Tomorrow Program are now open and
available. This is an immersive professional development program connecting
teachers of blind students to the lived experience of blind people
themselves. This program is aimed at individuals who are studying to be
teachers of blind students or have been teachers who have been in the field
of blindness for 5 years of less. The deadline is May 3rd. This program is
open to anyone in the teaching area working with blind students. We do need
more blind people working and seeking careers working with blind students.
Find information on this program at NFB.org.
Advocacy notes on this release is coming from our group working at the
Center of Excellence for Non-Visual Access
or CENA. CENA has established a new toolkit for leveraging the experience of
blind people with inaccessible technologies. This is our self advocacy
toolkit and tracking form for non-visual accessibility. This new toolkit is
intended to give members of the Federation tools,tips, and resources for
effectively addressing and engaging with companies regarding accessibility
issues. Besides the toolkit you can also find a webinar providing further
resources and demonstrating some of the support of the toolkit as well as a
inaccessibility tracking form. This new toolkit was put together to
encourage members to report inaccessible web sites to us at the national
level. We can use that data to track trends and follow up with companies
and also in our advocacy and legal work. This inaccessibility form is
specifically and more broadly to web site accessibility. We want everyone
to report these things and the data will be important as we continue to seek
a bill in Congress to address these issues. We are encouraged to go the
toolkit resources and check them out. This toolkit can be found at
nfb.org/cena.
In the past year there has been a lot of conversations about employers that
are illegally requiring a drivers license in their application process. To
combat this we have been having a conversation with the Equal Opportunity
Employment Commission (EEOC). They have asked us to file a many charges as
discrimination as possible when we come across examples of a drivers license
being required, even though it is not a essential function of a job. If you
think you found one of these and need assistance feel free to reach out to
Sanho Steele-Louchart. He is our legal program coordinator and can be
reached at legal at nfb.org <mailto:legal at nfb.org> or by calling our
national office at (4 1 0) 6 5 9-9 3 1 4 extension 2440.
Washington Seminar 2025 will take place Monday, February 3rd to Thursday,
February 6th, 2025. Please mark your calendars. We will again be
headquartered at Holiday Inn Washington Capital. 550 C Street Southwest.
The great gathering will be Monday, February 3rd.
A few passings to share, Maddie Dixon, longtime member of Louisiana and
Mother of Jerrall Dixon. Dar Aldrich from Montana, Joe Cordova and Jack
Munston from New Mexico, Rafael Lewis from Georgia. President Mark
Riccobono would also like to share his appreciation to the Federation
community for reaching out to him earlier in the day when he learned of the
passing of his father, Sebastian Riccobono.
The next Presidential Release will be on Wednesday, May 1st at 8:00 PM
Eastern time, 7:00 PM our time via ZOOM.
STATE PRESIDENTS REPORT
Marilyn said that our next State Affiliate Board meeting is scheduled for
Wednesday, April 17th, at 7:00 PM. It is on the same ZOOM that we are
calling in on. This is a excellent opportunity to learn about what's going
on within our Affiliate as far as programs and policies.
The State Scholarships are still open. If you, or if you know a blind person
that is in post secondary education and lives in Illinois or is planning on
attending school in Illinois, our State Scholarship application is still
open. The person can go to http://www.nfbofillinois.org/scholarships.
Our Chapel Dennis is open for financial assistance to attend our National
Convention in Orlando, Florida. The application is due by May 1st, 2024.
You can get the application from http://www.nfbofillinois.org. Look for
the Chapel Dennis application, download it, fill it out and don't change the
format. Email it to: president at nfbofillinois.org
<mailto:president at nfbofillinois.org> no later than 11:59 PM on May 1st.
There is also a Kenneth Jernigan Fund. It is a National fund. If you know
someone that has never been to a National Convention preference is given to
first time convention goers for the Kenneth Jernigan Convention
Scholarship. you can go to http://www.nfb.org/convention and there will be
information about the Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship. It is a very
easy form to fill out. If you know someone or if it is for you, please
contact Marilyn because she will have to write a little statement regarding
the person's request.
The dates for National Convention is July 3rd thru July 8th at the Rosen
Center in Orlando, Florida. This is the premiere event to learn about all
resources and services for people who are blind. The room rate is $129.00
per night for all singles and doubles and $139.00 per night for triples and
quads. You can call the hotel directly to make your room reservations and
tell them you are with the National Federation of the Blind to get our
group rate.
We will again have our two Bell Programs. Our Springfield program is a
residential program for the students and their family. We will also have
our Chicago program where we partner with the Chicago Lighthouse. The
Chicago program is a two week day program running from July 22nd to August
2nd. If you know students between the ages of 4-12 who could benefit for
our Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning Program please reach out
to Debbie Stein at 7 7 3-2 0 3-1 3 9 4 or send her a email at:
dkent5817 at att.net <mailto:dkent5817 at att.net> . Also if you interested in
being an adult blind mentor, we always need adult blind mentors for our
youth. Reach out to Debbie Stein if you are interested in being a adult
blind mentor for Springfield or Chicago or maybe both.
Our face to face State Board Meeting will be Saturday, August 17th, at the
Chicago Marriott Naperville Hotel. So mark your calendar and make,those
room reservations now. If you have any problems booking reach out to Patti
Chang.
Our State Convention will be the weekend of October 18th at the Chicago
Marriott Naperville Hotel. We are planning for a great weekend of education
and fellowship. Leslie asked if the convention format was going to be like
2023 and it was stated that it would be.
We will check to see if we can extend the National Convention hotel rates in
Orlando for a few days before the event and for a few days after.
We would also like to check to see if there will be any tours at National
Convention.
Please let Marilyn know via email if you would like to volunteer for
Independence Market at National Convention so she can let Jen know how many
volunteers we have from IL.
OLD BUSINESS
President David Meyers asked if we have any old business and there is none.
NEW BUSINESS
David Meyer asked if there was any new business and it was suggested we sell
a lot of Popcorn for this year's Popcorn Fundraiser or feel free to donate.
The next At Large Chapter Board Meeting will be May 5th, at 7:00 PM,
President David Meyer thanked Bill Reif again for his service over the past
three years for
serving as Secretary/Treasurer for the At Large Chicago Chapter.
ADJOURNMENT
Marilyn moved to adjourn and Cathy seconded. The ayes had it and the meeting
adjourned at 8:11 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Michelle Ault
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