[IABS-Talk] Dec3ember at large minutes

[David Meyer]

At Large Chapter Minutes

December 7th, 2025

ZOOM Meeting

CALL TO ORDER

Persons in Attendance:  At Large Chapter President, David Meyer, 
Marilyn Green, Eileen Truschke, Ken Schadd, Michelle Ault, Dennis 
Devitt, Rachel Ng, Debbie Pittman, Yvonne Agyarko, Linda Hendle, and 
Greg Rosenberg. The meeting started at 7:03 PM

APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR NOVEMBER AT LARGE CHAPTER MEETING

Eileen Truschke moved and Linda Hendle seconded. All in favor said 
"Aye" and the November minutes were approved.

PROGRAM ITEM

David Meyer presented the Program Item which was for everyone to share 
what brought us into the National Federation of the Blind and what 
keeps us in the National Federation of the Blind. At Large Chapter 
Members reflected back on these two questions and shared their reflections.

PRESIDENTIAL RELEASE

The Chapter version was released on Monday, November 24th, 2025, and 
this is Presidential Release 555, our holiday and end of year edition 
for the Presidential Release.

President Mark Riccobono spoke about the year 2025. We started the year 
by talking about some of the financial pressures on the organization 
and what we were doing about it. He mentioned that we have a number of 
chapters and affiliates who have gotten on our pre-authorized 
contribution program. In January, we will celebrate all of the chapters 
and affiliates that came onto the PAC plan that we haven't announced 
recently on the release. Our chapters and affiliates have also been 
stepping up in other ways to make financial contributions to the 
organization, covering costs for our national representatives to come 
to state conventions, covering delegate costs for the national 
convention, and covering other costs within the organization. We have 
been active across the country in so many ways through our programs, 
not just our federal and local advocacy, but all the way down to 
advocating in local National Federation of the Blind meetings. We have 
been making connections between newly blind people, and raising 
expectations for blind seniors. We continue to build our employment 
programs and our programs of education, and at the same time, we have 
been positively influencing the image of blindness in many places in 
society. We even got our Jernigan Institute recognized and included in 
the Baltimore Edition of Monopoly this year. It has been a good year 
for the Organized Blind Movement.

The Holiday's are coming up and we all learn from each other about when 
to push and when not to push, and start to learn about how to keep 
those expectations high. We should use the Federation family as a 
source of strength to remember that we do belong and we can 
participate. And despite what struggles we may face in our individual 
family situations, we do have that internal confidence of control, and 
continue to make contributions that we find through the National 
Federation of the Blind. We know that blindness is not the 
characteristic that defines us, and we also know that we want to live 
in the world and not have our blindness be the source of controversy or 
strife all of the time. We're going to deal with low expectations, and 
that often unfortunately, is going to happen in our own families.

President Mark Riccobono suggested that if this is an experience we 
have at the holidays, we should try to center ourselves into the 
feeling that we get from being at our convention when we are with 
thousands of other blind people who share our hopes and dreams, and who 
believe in blind people the way that we do. Remember that when we are 
with our family, if we feel like we are all alone, we are not. He wants 
us to know that we do belong and that we are part of the Federation 
family, and know that we are not the only blind person having this 
struggle during the holidays, especially for those who may be in our 
movement who are newly blind. You're just learning to navigate this, 
and he wants us to know that we do have a source of Federation family 
to call on in these times. President Mark Riccobono is bringing this up 
because there is an opportunity to do something about it, and help to 
change those misconceptions when we come across them.

In the past, we have distributed a piece of literature called the 
"Courtesy Rules of Blindness", and you can still find this on our 
website. It includes 10 simple points that are meant to help non-blind 
people be a little more at ease in having us around and not feel so 
nervous about it and not limit our opportunities and our participation. 
We might consider giving this piece of literature out to our relatives 
or maybe distributing it ahead of time before we show up at home.

We are going to be revising the "Courtesy Rules of Blindness" document 
in 2026. He wants to learn from us, our blind community, to see if 
there are other things we should include in the "Courtesy Rules of 
Blindness". How should we change it in 2026? What should be dropped? 
What should be added? Should some things be emphasized more?
 What would be helpful to have in a "Courtesy Rules of Blindness" 
document in 2026? President Mark Riccobono wants to hear our ideas on 
this. We can send those to:

 communications at nfb.org.

There might not be anything that needs changed on the "Courtesy Rules 
of Blindness" literature but National Headquarters is open to our 
suggestions and it is a great tool to have in our toolbox to hand out 
to others.

President Mark Riccobono has traveled the country meeting with blind 
people this year. He has been inspired and motivated by the level of 
intergenerational wisdom that's being shared, and the commitment to 
active participation in our shared movement. Next week, just after the 
Thanksgiving holiday, our national board will be coming together and 
discussing our priorities for 2026 shaped by our experience with 
members across the country.

In addition, we will be thinking about the most pressing advocacy 
priorities in front of us, but also how do we continue to build a 
active membership and create opportunities for members to share deep 
experiences with each other, to leverage the resources that we have 
created, and to bring to scale the work that we're doing in all parts 
of this country. And we have so many tools now to do that.

President Mark Riccobono mentioned our newest podcast, Walking Alone 
and Marching Together,  and also our other publications, our other 
podcasts. We're going to be thinking about how to continue to improve 
these tools so that we can build our organization, strengthen it even 
further in 2026. Every member in our movement have the power to shape 
what 2026 is like and to shape our success.

When we are with our families over the holidays he encourages us to 
share what excites us about the work of the Organized Blind Movement 
and bring that back to your local chapter and affiliate for 2026. We 
should recommit ourselves to the work, and also find new opportunities 
to build in our local communities. What was exciting about 2025? What 
motivated us, but what's our priority for 2026, and how can we use our 
local talent to leverage upward to build our affiliate and our national 
movement? Our chapters are being encouraged to reflect on these 
questions and converse about them.
President Mark Riccobono looks forward to hearing the ideas that our 
chapters and affiliates have about what we should be focusing on, what 
we should be building in 2026. The members of this organization 
continue to have the power to build, and I know that we will have a 
great year in 2026 because we have such great members.

All of the Federation family is wished the very happiest of holidays. 
If we should have struggles he hopes that the Federation continues to 
be a source of strength for you.


STATE PRESIDENT'S REPORT



The President of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois, 
Marilyn Green, gave us the States President's Report.  We will be 
having our State Board meeting on December 17th at 7:00 PM with the 
same ZOOM link that we used for this call. The agenda will go out 
before the end of the week. This is a great way to learn about our 
programs at the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois and to 
learn about the policies and procedures of our organization.

The Midwest Student Seminar will be the weekend of March 17th. It will 
be at the Holiday Inn Chicago Ohare Hotel, so if anyone knows of any 
students that may benefit from this Seminar please let Marilyn know and 
she will send them the link. The registration went live on Friday.

We are looking forward to our NFB BELL Program and our STEM2U. Please 
start to think about any students that you think may be interested in 
these programs. More information will be coming out after the first of 
the year about both of these programs.

We are still finalizing things for State Convention which will be the 
weekend of October 22nd. We are looking at the Hyatt in Lisle which 
will be a new place for our Convention. The Convention will go from 
October 23rd to October 25th.

Membership Dues are coming up at the end of the Calendar year. Our 
membership dues are for the calendar year. It does not go by the date 
you joined but by the calendar year. Membership dues vary among the 
Chapters so if you have any questions about how much they are you can 
reach out to the Chapter President or the Chapter Secretary to find out 
how much the membership dues are for the Chapter you are interested in 
joining. You can also check the member portal to find out the status of 
your membership. This is located at:

 nfb.org

 Click on the tab for members and then go into your profile. You will 
need the email address that you used when you became a member. The 
information is on that site. If you have any questions you can reach 
out to your Chapter President.

The application for Washington seminar did expire on December 1st. The 
Delegates are Denise Avant, Dustin Cather, Michelle Ault, Jean Johnson, 
Kaitlyn Ryan, and Monica Primm. Washington Seminar begins on January 
26th with a variety of trainings about the issues. The Great Gathering 
will be that evening. Information will be going out soon and if people 
want to tune in virtually to the Great Gathering that link will be made 
available. That Tuesday thru Thursday we will be participating in 
appointments to meet with our Members of Congress and the Senate. The 
hotel rates are also available in the Braille Monitor.

On January 2nd we can start making reservations for our 2026 National 
Convention in Austin, Texas. Information should be available by January 2nd at:

nfb.org/convention

We will be in Austin from July 3rd to July 8th. The Convention hotel 
will be at the J W Marriott. The hotel rates are also available in the 
Braille Monitor.

OLD BUSINESS
There is not any old business to discuss.

NEW BUSINESS

Our next meeting will be on Sunday, January 4th at 7:00 PM.

The Chicago Chapter is having their annual Christmas Auction on 
Saturday, December 13th, at Exchequer Pub and Restaurant at 226 S. 
Wabash, If you have any auction items you would like to donate please 
list them on IL TALK or send the information to David Meyer at:
datemeyer at sbcglobal.net

and also CC Mary Grunwald at:
marylougrunwald at gmail.com

Debbie Pittman posted on the listserv that she heard that those people 
who do not have the real ID will be charged a fee for not having that 
REAL ID when they fly. The fee is $45.00.

She also mentioned that they are supposed to increase the number of 
TAP/RAP rides in January.

We will be having the annual New Year's Eve party on ZOOM. Anyone who 
is welcome to attend may attend. It starts at 8:00 PM on December 31st 
and you can come and go as you wish. It will be concluded at 1:00 AM on 
January 1st.

ADJOURNMENT
Marilyn Green moved and Linda Hendle seconded. All in favor said "AYE". 
The meeting was adjourned at 8:14 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Michelle Ault
Secretary/Treasurer