[IL-Talk] April 23, 2019 NFBI Board meeting Minutes Approved at the August 17, 2019 Face-to-Face Board meeting

Tue Aug 20 17:41:26 UTC 2019

Hello all,

Here are the April 23, 2019 NFBI board meeting minutes which were approved
at the August 17, 2019 face-to-face board meeting.

NFBI BOARD MEETING

APRIL 23, 2019

President Denise Avant called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. The
following members were present. Denise Avant, President, Debbie Stein, First
Vice-President, Marilyn Green, Second Vice-President, David Meyer,
secretary, and Patti Chang, treasurer. Board members were Bill Reif, Mary
Grunwald and Pat Olsen. Steve Hastalis, Cathy Randall and Adrienne Falconer
were absent. Guests included Danny Mandrell and Brian Sumner.

Secretary's Minutes: It was moved by Mary and seconded by Marilyn to approve
the minutes from the February board meeting. Minutes were approved as
presented.

Treasury Update: There was not a first quarter treasurer's report. Patti
gave the following information. We currently have $140,000 in the bank. Some
of this money will be spent on Bell Programs. Additionally we have
approximately $52,700 in our Athene account. We will be able to withdraw
from this account without incurring penalties in approximately three years.
Patti will abstain on any votes concerning the Athene account, as she set up
the account with a family member. Dave continues to be paid for his work
with Freedom Link.

Strategic Plan: Denise has sent out the latest strategic plan of the
National organization. She emphasized that the state affiliate should have a
strategic plan which is similar to that of the National organization, though
she suspects there will be a few differences based upon what we do. It
should be similar to the National plan. We should form a committee of both
board members and rank and file members to work on this plan. Patti
mentioned that the National strategic plan took about 7 months to complete.
We would like be starting the process of constructing a plan at the state
convention. She does not see a state plan taking nearly so long as it took
to develop the national plan, as we can use the national plan as a guide.
The public portion of this document would be what is referred to as a Case
and Support. Patti will send a sample document which will include some
testimonials of one or several sentences. It was moved by bill and seconded
by Patti to begin work on a strategic plan. Patti did point out that this
should not take precedence over current activities we are engaged in. Denise
pointed out that the chapter presidents will have a lot of input into this
process. She also mentioned that we should tap members from our chapters for
assistance. Patti suggested that we should have a focus group on the first
afternoon of the state convention of anyone who is interested in assisting
with a strategic plan. The motion carried.

Programs

Bell: Patti reported that Chicago has 3 definite applicants with several
possibilities. Springfield now has 6 applicants. We need more for both
programs. Debbie will work with Amber in publicizing the Bell Program by
targeting parents we currently have information on. 

Scholarship Programs: We had 25 students from Illinois apply for National
scholarships. Of those, 17 or 18 applications were complete. All prospects
applying for a National Scholarship should be contacted by phone, e-mail or
both. Particular effort should be made by Chapter Presidents and scholarship
committee people to do this. We had 12 people apply for state scholarships.
Debbie called, e-mailed and sent texts to all known students. We need to
figure out additional ways to contact these prospects in the future. Patti
suggested that we e-mail all of those who applied for a National scholarship
only to find out why they did not apply for a state scholarship as well. If
we get feedback that our offers are too low, then we could revise
scholarships to higher amounts, (IE) two scholarships of $2,000 each.

Freedom Link: Dave reported that we will have two instructors from Blind
Incorporated here to work with our students on April 27. We will do our
transportation experience where we take a bus, a Metra train and a CTA
train. We will also be doing Westside Story at Lyric Opera on Sunday, May 5.
Parents will be involved with the Blind INC activity as well as with
Westside Story. Denise suggested that we have photos taken of our various
Freedom Link activities.

Midwest Student Seminar: Denise reported that the seminar was very
successful. The theme was Owning our Future and our guest speaker was
Maurice Paret of our National office. We also had a yoga presentation by
Marilyn Green, and presentations by Katheryn Webster of IABS and Yusef Dale,
a blind attorney working with the United States Attorney General's office.
We had 62 participants from 6 or 7 states. It looks like we will be able to
get reimbursement for Illinois students who have open cases with the Bureau
of Blind Services. 

State Legislation: Dave and Bill gave the state legislation report. Dave
reported that HB423 has passed the house and has been introduced to the
senate. The final bill did not remove requirements for tVIS to demonstrate
proficiency in reading and writing braille. Dave asked that everyone on this
call please contact their state officials asking that they take our position
on this bill.

Federal Legislation: Marilyn asked that we all contact our representatives
and senators about the access technology Affordability Act, HR2086/S815, and
the Transformation to Competitive Employment Act, HR873/S260. She has sent
e-mails to all reps and senators regarding these pieces of legislation.
Senator Duckworth has cosponsored the Transformation to Competitive
Employment Act. We have yet to see any cosponsors for Access Technology.
Last year we had 15 cosponsors on this piece of legislation. We all must
participate in order for our congressional reps and senators to cosponsor
these bills.

National Convention: Denise mentioned that the National convention will take
place at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Los Vegas Nevada July 7-12. Room rates
are $99 per night. You must register directly with the hotel to get a room.
Online preregistration for the convention will be open through May 31. Go to
www.nfb.org <http://www.nfb.org>  to register for the convention. If one
needs financial assistance, he/she may fill out a Chapel-Dennis form which
can be found on the NFB of Illinois website. Applications for financial
assistance must be received by Denise no later than May 1. Her e-mail
address is davant1958 at gmail.com <mailto:davant1958 at gmail.com> . Denise asked
that all who attend the convention please be available to assist in the
Independence Market. There will be a social gathering for Illinois
attendees. Details have yet to be worked out. Patti mentioned that if we
were to follow what we did last year, the social gathering would take place
on July 7. The caucus will likely be on Tuesday, July 9 at 7:30 A.M. It was
moved by Patti and seconded by Dave to purchase $100 worth of Jernigan
tickets to be used as door prizes for the convention. The motion carried.
Patti also moved that we contribute $100 to assist the host affiliate and
$100 for the Scholarship breakfast. Mary seconded this motion. The motion
carried. Finally, it was moved by Patti and seconded by Debbie to give
$1,000 to The following National funds. TenBroek, White Cane, Jernigan and
Sun funds. The motion carried.

Sales items: We have 35 chargers left which we will sell at National
convention. We will have a new item beginning with our state convention in
the fall.

Convention meetings: The following meetings will be covered by the following
convention attendees. Board meeting, Denise. Federal Legislation and
Membership, Marilyn. Resolutions, Steve. Chapter Presidents University,
Dave, Brian Sumner and Marilyn. Communications, Debbie, Cash and Caring,
Dave and Cathy, Grants and Development, Cathy. Guide dog meeting, Gary
Jones,   Merchants meeting, Ed Birmingham.

Trip to National Center: Denise asked that all of us who will be going to
the National Center in August please come to the center before 6:00 P.M. on
August 15. We will have dinner at that time. Friday will be taken up with a
tour of the center, plus leadership training. Saturday will be our state
board meeting plus dinner at the Maryland Crab Feast fundraiser. We should
all try to leave between 9:00 A.M. and 1:00 P.M. on Sunday.

State conventions 2019-20: The 2019 state convention will take place at the
Hilton Hotel in Springfield on October 18-20. Room rates are $99 per might.
Those who need to come down on October 17 will get the convention rate.
Denise has asked that all Chappell-Dennis application be in by September 1.
All convention fees for this year will be the same as last year. That is,
$10 for each of the Saturday and Sunday breakfasts, $15 for lunch, $30 for
banquet and $5 for early registration. If you have an idea for a convention
theme, please send it to Denise as soon as possible. We also need to be
thinking of topics we wish to pursue in breakout sessions. Denise did say
that one person she thought we should hear from is Rahnee Patrick who will
be replacing Quinetta Wade as the Director of Rehabilitation Services. MS.
Patrick will begin as director on May 20.Patti suggested that we invite
someone from the Museum of Contemporary Art as they seem to have a focus on
accessibility. Debbie suggested that we could do an art activity, as her
friend Ralph Cosentino said he would be very willing to come down and assist
with such a project. Mary suggested that we should do a session on state
legislation and how it works. Marilyn would like to see a session on federal
legislation as well. Patti suggested a session on how to promote diversity.
Denise suggested that we need to do a better job at getting out among blind
people. Regarding the 2020 convention, Patti has been in contact with a
convention broker who has come up with several venues in several locations
including Chicago, Springfield, Urbana, Bloomington and the Chicago suburbs.
She is suggesting that we either do Chicago or a suburban location. It was
moved by Patti and seconded by Marilyn to have the 2020 convention in
Chicago or a Chicago suburb. The motion carried. It was moved by Patti and
seconded by Dave to try to do a multiyear contract beginning in 2020. The
motion carried. 

Old Business: Denise has been trying to get other contact information for
Judge Timothy Evans Dave asked about the possibility of using the Zoom
platform. Patti suggested that we hold off on any decisions until we find
out what it might cost us. Bill mentioned that the only person he has talked
to who expressed an interest in our old embosser is Dan Thompson who is in
the midst of forming a not for profit organization. Bill will contact
Camille at Horizons for the Blind offering the printer as is and asking that
they braille our next convention agenda and newsletter at no charge. The
repairs would amount to approximately $700.

New Business: Denise mentioned that Chicago is being considered for another
Midwest Student Seminar in 2020.

The meeting adjourned at 9:13 P.M.

Respectfully Submitted,

David Meyer, Secretary.

Denise R. Avant, Esq.

President,

National Federation of the Blind of Illinois

773-991-8050

Live the life you want.

For more information about NFBI,

Go to www.nfbofillinois.org