[IL-Talk] Chicago Chapter Secretary Hybrid Meeting Minutes November 12, 2022

[davant1958 at gmail.com]

Chicago Chapter Meeting Minutes 

Zoom/Exchequer Pub Hybrid

November 12th, 2022

 

Denise brought the meeting to order at 1pm by wishing everyone a good
afternoon and welcoming all to the November 14, 2022 National Federation of
the Blind of Illinois Chicago Chapter Meeting. She thanked everyone for
coming and shared that she was glad to see everyone after our successful
state convention and asked all to give our president Ms. Marilyn Green a
hand and all those who worked to make the convention a success. She said
there were just a few housekeeping announcements. The state president
checked in to see if the meeting was being recorded as the secretary was at
the meeting, Denise confirmed it was. Denise then moved on to remind
everyone of our custom since returning in person, that everyone please
remain masked unless you are actively drinking or eating. We want to make
sure that people keep safe. In ad

 

She then shared that we have several people on Zoom. She thanked Patty
Chang, who trained a few new zoom hosts, Ed Birmingham and David Meyer, and
so the Zoom hosts today are Michal & since David's new he's paired with
Michael this afternoon. Then she began introductions and said we'd start
with zoom. 

David Meyer - Have some nice warm fuzzies to share. For those who may not
know during the convention, Teresa and I were recipients of the Gwendolyn
Williams award, which if anyone is not familiar is an award that's given or
is it fair to say exemplary participation?

Denise said that's fair. Dave said both were very honored receive that and
they're also honored that they've made it to 22 years of marriage as of
today.

Many present wished them congratulations.

Dave thanked everyone and shared that Teresa is continuing to do quite well
and is currently in an experimental sort of treatment right now that seems
to be going well. It allows for her chemo to be administered orally rather
than by a shot and that she's probably being seen about once a week. They're
keeping track of her blood pressure among other things. But she's doing
great and he's very thankful.

Denise noted that was good news. 

Gina Falvo congratulated the Meyers and wished them many more years
together.

 

Charlie Miller - 

It's been a while since he has attended a meeting. Fortunately, he was able
to get a job at Illinois Department of Human Rights and was well into my
training. About a month into his training, he tested positive for COVID 19.
He took Paxlovid which unfortunately whipped around and turned into full
blown long-term COVID. He's tested positive for almost three months but is
getting back on his feet He has had to take long term approved FMLA leave,
but  is back at work and trying to catch up on his academics at UIUC and he
is very happy to ve with us. He is doing things remotely as he is not 100%
recovered. But he is hoping to reconnect. 

Denise welcomed him back and said that we are certainly glad that you are
back. 

Sara Luna - She is in Minnesota, but is a little sad because she was suppose
to serve as the NABS rep in New Jersey but got sick and decided to play it
safe. Her good news is that she will be graduating from Blind Inc on
December 9.

Dave congratulated Sara for her participation on two panels at the Minnesota
state convention.

Robert Hansen - He is keeping busy and going to work each day. He has just
celebrated a birthday.

Bob Lee - He is from Springfield. He is friends with Gary Jones.

from Springfield, Illinois. 

Denise shared a good afternoon to him and welcome.

Bob Whitman - He said it was a great convention and he enjoyed seeing some
of his friends. He is back in Michigan where it is starting to get cold. The
Maryland convention is underway and on Amazon Alexa.

Steve Hastalis -he is the Chicago chapter treasurer. He has some medical
news.

His doctors want to do a heart surgery that involves juggling some muscles,
nerves that cause a lot of random electrical signals that kind of make a
mess up of the heartbeat. The doctors have said he needs the surgery because
his heart is a little weak. The surgery is on November 29, and is same day
out patient.

Dsaid he should let us know if he needs anything.

Melissa Fuller -

Murphy Canda -

 

In Person:

Glenn Moore 

David Wagner -He is Teresa Fabre's husband. 

Teresa Fabre  

Kira O'Bradovich  

Marilyn Green - Her good news is that she started a new job on Monday and no
longer works for the Chicago Public Library.

Debbie Stein - I am the NFB of Illinois Secretary

Patal - My first time here. (This was met with cheers and welcomes)

Ken Schad - First time here since his surgical valve.

Eileen Truschke - She had updates on Roberta Glickman, a long time
federationist. She's going to be going to a nursing facility because she's
fallen a few times at Friedmann Place and she needs more supervised care. 

Jemal Powell - Chicago chapter 2d Vice President - he got his booster
yesterday. 

His father was taken to a rehab facility after being in the hospital but it
looks like the facility gave him some medication he wasn't supposed to have
and it caused a significant reaction so he's back in the hospital. And while
he was in the hospital, they found a couple other things, issues that kind
of explains what happened when he was being treated at Advocate hospital for
some of his issues. He asks us to keep the Powell family in our prayers. He
tries to stay positive and hopeful but this whole thing has been a bit
frustrating because of just some of the ridiculous stuff that happened that
shouldn't have happened in the first place.

Dan TeVelde  

Christopher Millsap has  been kind of busy with work but otherwise things
are going fine.

Mary Lou Grunwald 

Marco Giannotti 

Nikki Nishagima  

Ed Birmingham

Paul Shepardson

Michelle Alt

Bruce Paul 

Hugh Barrow - It was his first meeting and he was there with his wife 

Gina Barrow - She is glad to be at the meeting as a first timer. 

Jackie Cook - She recently graduated from Northeastern University.

Ken Borst 

Patti Chang -The Chang's kids are  moving out again 

Francisco Chang - Hello everybody, I just wanted to let you know that in a
week we're taking Kayla to meet her great grandmother for the very first
time in Belize. 

Denise celebrated this and said that we hear he's a candidate next year for
the pie contest. Francisco agreed and said he's looking forward to it, scrap
every flavor please.

Michal Nowicki - He is going to Cancun for Thanksgiving week. He's never
been to a Mexican resort before but is looking forward to it.

Ellen Bartelt - She is still looking for a job. 

Gary Jones 

 

Denise Avant - Chicago Chapter President, and First Vice President of the
Illinois affiliate. She welcomed everyone who is a first timer, whether
in-person or on Zoom and invited them to ask our members any questions that
they may have. We will try to explain things as we go.

She explained that we have the room until 5 PM. So, we will take a count of
people who might want to stay afterwards.

PROGRAM 

 

Patti started by noting that we have 38 people in attendance with another
person on the way. She reminded that if people wanted to pay dues, it would
count twoard next year's dues.

Patti - Everybody I can't remember the last meeting we hit 38 people in
attendance so I'm pretty impressed, we are heading to 39, so very awesome.
And that actually brings me to take a second to divert how you can pay your
dues now, and it will count for all next year. Steve Hastalis is the
treasurer. And the dues are $5 a year. Please see Steve Hastalis, who is the
treasurer.

 

This program is one that she saw Anil Lewis who is the executive director of
blindness initiatives do with his group. She thought it generated a lot of
discussion. There is no right or wrong answer.

She wanted people to think about the video she played and what message does
it send?

A family of three children were going to go blind due to a retinal
condition. Their parents took them on adventures around the world while they
still had their sight so they would have visual memories.

 

 

The recording stopped and Patti then asked everyone to share their thoughts;

Jemal - He thought that was a very interesting story. The parents were very
well meaning to try to give their kids visual memories.  He did not see
anything wrong with that because you want kids to have memories. He recalled
the time when he was losing vision. In 1984, his parents took a trip to
California. His mother wanted to make sure we went on the California trip so
he could add some visual memories because the doctor said he would lose
vision by age 12. 

Dan TeVelde - He thought it was interesting, but  he would have thought they
might have focused on the future a little bit. It seemed like it was more
about what the children would lose rather than what would they gain. He has
ridden a horse and has been to the ocean many times. 

Debbie Stein noted that it was a very complicated issue. You don't need to
experience visually a lot of the things the kids did. A lot of the things
the kids did she has done as a blind person and things she enjoyed. She was
concerned about the messaging being sent to the children, which is basically
you're going to lose all of this once you go blind.

It's all going to be gone." And that's probably not at all the way kids are
experiencing it. But getting that message drummed into them that this family
is spending a fortune taking them to all these places when some of that
energy could be spent towards preparing them to learn non visual ways of
living their lives, so that they will understand that the world isn't going
to end even when their vision end and so they're gonna have the resources to
move forward.

Bruce Paul: Why don't they try to use these experiences as a teaching
mechanism? Because obviously, they can help the children a lot more by
saying, Well, if you were in this situation and you couldn't see what you're
doing, how would you approach it? Those stronger messages to say that also
saying, well, these aren't good one-time experiences maybe we'll come back
after you've lost your vision and say that the vision loss doesn't have to
be the end all for everything 

Patti raised two more questions: Is there a difference between saying I
became blind and I lost my vision? What message is this sending to the
public? Is it a good one a bad one, a medium one? 

Marilyn Green - She found it interesting that the parents talked about what
the children saw but the kids talked about what they did. 

Robert Hansen - He agreed with Marilyn, that it s not about what you are
seeing but what you are experiencing.

Denise Avant - The mom referred to the kids having chalenges and them not
wanting to feel like they've been cursed. But what is being done to help
them face those challenges. There is contradictory messages. Dr. Jernigan
had an article "When Blindness Comes?"

Now it's unsurprising that you know, people act this way because we know we
live in a very visual society. Everything is about seeing and we know that
in some cases, sometimes people fear blindness, more than a fear of cancer
or anything and we have to remind people that you know, blindness is not you
know, a death sentence, it's not a sickness. We learn through non visual
techniques, how to live our lives in society. And when she hears people say,
you know, I lost or my child lost their sight. That is kind of interesting
because it's not like you lose money or anything. It just happened. You
know, I became blind. It was due to a congenital condition, but I didn't
lose anything.

Sara Luna -She wanted to address the question of whether this sends a
positive or negative message to the public? She thought it sent a negative
message that it's perpetuating the notion that we are incapable of leading
full happy lives as blind people because they're just like, oh you're gonna
enjoy the world while you still have sight, because they're under the
assumption that they will be unable to appreciate traveling or appreciate
visiting destinations, as a blind person. She thought it was really
interesting that they specifically mentioned that they were taking like
simple modes of transportation to cut down costs and that the mom said that
it was to make sure to teach them resilience, because they're going to need
to be resilient in life. That's pretty hilarious when you're doing this
inherently privileged thing of traveling the world.

(This was met with agreements throughout the room.)

Teresa Fabre - She too thought the mom was being contradictory. It is fine
to help them retain visual memories but what is she doing to foster
resilience? She should be helping  the kids learn nonvisual techniques.

Patti - She thanked everyone for participating. She added that visual memory
fades so even if they were to succeed in what they said they're doing. She
didn't know about everyone else but she didn't have any visual memory
anymore. Maybe some people here do.

 

Denise then shared that Kira would take up the November chapter collection.

For people on Zoom, if you wish to make a donation to the chapter, you can
Zelle it to treasurer at nfbofillinois.org <mailto:treasurer at nfbofillinois.org>
and Michal will make sure that the money gets to the chapter. 

Dave then played the presidential release.

 

 

President Riccobono conducted the release live from the convention of the
National Federation of the Blind of California. He shared that this month,
on November 16 we will be celebrating our 82nd year as the organized blind
movement. California has long been a leader of our organization going back
to our founding and our founding president. He shared it was a great time to
think about how we can contribute to others who are in need, but we should
not forget that our mission in the National Federation of the Blind also
continues to need support. Thanks to the generous challenge grant from The
Sparrow, every dollar contributed to between now and the end of the year can
be doubled up to $50,000. So, he encourages us to donate and share the
opportunity with our friends and family and to let them know that
contributions will be doubled. It's really easy to make a contribution to
the Federation, you can visit our online donation page at nfb.org/donate,
call the main office 410-659-9314 and dial extension 2430, or send a check
to our national office at 200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230.
He then noted that, November 8 is quickly approaching and that is the
general election and this is an important time for us to get out as blind
people and vote or well for that matter. You can stay in and vote but the
important thing is to vote and to tell the NFB about your experience because
that data will help them. He reminded all members of the Federation that
Title 2 of the Americans with Disabilities Act requires that blind and low
vision voters must be provided an opportunity to vote privately and
independently that is equivalent to the opportunities provided to
non-disabled voters. The NFB has been working tirelessly to protect the
rights of blind voters and to expand those opportunities where it has been
limited. After participating in that 2022 general elections, they need all
blind voters to fill out the blind voters survey, regardless of the positive
or negative experience you have, as it helps the NFB gather data needed to
hold the government and others accountable for the experience of blind
people. There are two different versions of the survey, one is for voters
who voted in person at a polling place either early voting or on Election
Day and the others survey is for those who voted absentee by mail. The
surveys are available in English and Spanish on our website at nfb.org/vote
and if you need assistance filling out the online survey, the NFB has staff
standing by to help. Both Lu Ann  Blake and Jeff Kaloc at our national
office are available to help you if you have trouble with the online survey
Lou Ann is available at extension 2221 and Jeff is at extension 2206. If you
are going to vote in person, Lyft is offering Federation members a special
code to offset the cost of transportation to get to the polls to vote during
this election time, the code is NFBVOTE2022 and is worth up to $30. There is
a link on our website as well. 

Over the past three months a number of meetings have taken place with Uber
and they have made improved efforts at driver education to train them on the
requirements for carrying passengers with service animals including a
thorough investigation after a report of being denied service due to having
a service animal during which drivers are suspended and if found to have
done so, they will be permanently removed from the platform. So please test
this and see if it's working to see if there have in fact been changes and
improvements. IF you experience a denial with Uber report it immediately to
Uber and then share it with the NFB through the form at nfb.org/legal which
we can then use in negotiations. We have had fewer meetings with Lyft, it's
a bit further behind things with Uber but are hopeful a similar update will
come with Lyft in the near future. President Riccobono went on to talk about
the "Braille Readers are Leaders" contest. The contest will begin on
December 5, 2022 and run through January 23, 2023 and you can win prizes
just for working on your reading. You can register now at
actionfund.beanstack.org. 

 

 

Denise then thanked Dave for playing the national presidential release and
then asked if anyone had any questions about the release for the newcomers
sharing that it's delivered each month by the President and it apprises us
of things that are going on around the federation. 

Jemal shared that when President Reagan was going down the states who passed
away one of the members mentioned, in Georgia was Edward Davis. I'm just
curious what the same Edward Davis who worked at ICRY and was a member of
this chapter for a short while? Denise confirmed that yes that was him, but
she didn't know he was a member of the Chicago chapter. But she shared that
when she was first vice-president, he invited them to visit ICRY to give
presentations to the classes that were coming through ICRY at that time.
Bruce then asked if the partnership with Lyft was going to continue next
year as he was stuck in the house trying to drop off his ballot and he
couldn't make it out to the Lincoln Park library. Denise said that she
couldn't confirm that but that the last few elections Lyft has provided a
code for our members and if you have questions you may want to reach out to
our state president, Marilyn Green as we approach election time. 

 

Denise then turned it over to our state president, Marilyn Green to give her
state president report, which she explained is similar to the national
report but it has to do with what's going on in the Illinois affiliate.
Marilyn greeted all and thanked everyone who was able to attend our 2022
state convention in Naperville, Illinois where we were "together again". She
shared that as President Riccobono mentioned it really re-energizes her to
go to our events and to see so many people living the lives that we want.
She thanked everyone who was able to come in person or on Zoom and shared
that we will have another state convention next year, the weekend of October
22, as they are moving the date up a little bit. For the last few years, the
convention has taken place at the end of October and they are moving it up
to the second weekend of October. So, for those who were able to attend in
person and virtually she is seeking constructive feedback as it is that is
greatly appreciated as she starts thinking about next year's convention. She
shared that for those who were registered for convention, they will see an
email go out next week that asks for feedback and it also provides
information about our convention sponsors. The NFB had two sponsor this
year, Democracy Live and the Shamrock Hoffman Lions Club, as well as six
exhibitors who are also mentioned in the post-convention email as well. So
please, when you get that email, go ahead and reply to it. You can send your
feedback to Marilyn at president at nfbofillinois.org
<mailto:president at nfbofillinois.org>  or if you do not have email, you can
text or call, texting is preferred, at 312-343-8396. If it's a longer
conversation that you need to have just text her and ask to schedule a time
to talk so that she can get all the feedback possible to begin to prepare
for 2023. She wanted to share that we had a great convention with what I
thought was a lot of great presenters and a lot of great energy in the room.
We had over 100 people registered and at some points in the room there were
60-70 people from Illinois and beyond including Michigan, New Mexico, and
South Carolina, so glad to have everyone be able to participate in our state
convention. 

 

Marilyn then shared information on the upcoming 2023 Washington Seminar. She
let those who are new know that we have an email list and after the meeting
please speak to a member so we can give you information on how to join. An
email went out earlier this week to share that the application is now up for
the Dennis Chappel Scholarship. You can go online, download the application,
fill it out, send it back in its original format, please don't take a
picture of it, send it back in its original format to
president at nfbofillinois.org <mailto:president at nfbofillinois.org> . If you're
not a computer user, just send her a text message at 312-343-8396 and she
can find someone to help you apply. The application deadline is December 5
at 11:59pm. She then shared that the great gathering-in will take place on
January 30th  in Washington DC. Our national office is planning for an
in-person event. We still don't quite know what that's going to look like in
Illinois, because some offices are still only doing virtual appointments but
we do have that application out so please fill it out if you are interested
in attending and you will get more information as soon as we know what's
going on. She then asked if there were any questions before she moves on.
There were none. She moved on to discuss the next state affiliate board
meeting on December 8th at 7pm.  These take place every six to eight weeks
to go over our programs and schedule for our procedures for the upcoming
year. They are open to the public and can be accessed via zoom with same
zoom used for this meeting which we can also provide for you if you need it.
If you're interested in learning more about what we do our policies and
procedures as an organization, it's great opportunity. Marilyn then went on
to discuss the Midwest Student Seminar, geared towards college aged students
which will take place the weekend of March 24 and the new IABS president who
is the room, Teresa Fabre, and the students are currently working very hard
on registration which will go live around the first of the year. Sara Luna,
is the vice-president and she is chairing the seminar committee. 

Marilyn then said she was done with her update and welcomed any questions.
Patti shared that if anyone wanted to be added to our email list or our list
for the monthly newsletter that she has her computer with her today and
asked Marilyn if it was ok if she took people's information after the
meeting. Marilyn said it was. 

 

 

Denise then noted that we now have a total of 41 people in attendance via
zoom and in person for this chapter meeting and she couldn't remember how
long it's been since we've had that many people.  We haven't had this many
people on yet get a chapter meeting and I can't remember when.

 

Denise then went on to the next item which she shared is very important to
the chapter. We have amended our Chicago chapter constitution to bring the
chapter constitution line with the practices and policies of the National
Federation of the Blind and Illinois affiliate and also to remove lifetime
memberships. So, in keeping with the NFB's practice, we have to read the
Constitution before all at this meeting, and then we will read it again at
the December meeting where you will have an opportunity to vote on it. It
will then be moved to be state affiliate Board for their review and
approval. She then turned it over to Debbie Stein for the reading of the
draft. Chicago Chapter Constitution for 2022.

Debbie then read the amended constitution.

which went as follows:

 

Constitution of the NATIONAL FEDERATION of the BLIND of ILLINOIS CHICAGO
CHAPTER CONSTITUTION

 

Amendment passed 2022 and ratified 2023. 

 

ARTICLE I. NAME 

The name of this organization shall be The National Federation of the Blind
of Illinois Chicago Chapter

                                                            

ARTICLE II. PURPOSE 

The purpose of the Chicago Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind
of Illinois shall be to advance the general welfare of the blind of the
Chicago area, of the state of Illinois and of the nation; to function as an
integral part of the National Federation of the Blind; to serve as a vehicle
for collective action by the blind of the Chicago area; to operate as a
mechanism through which the blind and interested sighted persons can come
together to plan and carry out programs to improve the quality of life of
the blind; to provide a means of collective action for parents of blind
children; to forward the interests of blind students and provide them with a
means of joint action and expression; to promote the vocational, cultural,
and social advancement of the blind; to achieve the integration of the blind
into society on a basis of equality with the sighted; and to take any other
action which will improve the overall condition and standard of living of
the blind.

 

ARTICLE III. MEMBERSHIP 

Section One - Members At least a majority of the members of this
organization must be blind. Every person is presumed to be eligible for
membership in this organization.  For this reason, any person may become a
member of this organization in accord with onboarding procedures with all
the rights and responsibilities of membership in the National Federation of
the Blind Chicago Chapter by tendering dues; and shall have the right to
vote, serve on committees, speak on the floor, and hold office. 

 

Section Two- Affiliation Membership in this organization automatically
establishes membership in the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois
and the National Federation of the Blind. 

 

Section Three- Expulsion: Any member may be expelled for violation of this
Constitution, for conduct unbecoming to a member of the Federation or for
egregious acts including but not limited to racism, or sexism by a two
thirds majority vote of the members present and voting at any regular
business meeting of this organization. The National Federation of the Blind
of Illinois Chicago Chapter is an all-inclusive organization. A person
charged with any of these offences must be presented with a written copy of
the charges at least one 1 regular business meeting prior to the business
meeting at which these charges are to be heard and must be afforded an
opportunity to respond in writing or orally. The state convention or the
state Board of Directors of this organization may reinstate any person who
has been expelled unless such expulsion has been confirmed by the National
Convention or by the Board of Directors of the National Federation of the
Blind, in which event the person may not be reinstated except by the
National Convention or by the National Board. Any person who feels that
he/she has been unjustly expelled from this organization may appeal to the
Board of Directors of the National Federation of the Blind, which may (in
its discretion) consider the matter and make a binding decision. 

 

 

 

ARTICLE IV. OFFICERS AND THEIR DUTIES: 

There shall be elected annually a President, a First Vice President, a
Second Vice President a Secretary, and a Treasurer. The terms of these
officers shall begin at the close of the meeting at which they are elected
and qualified. Officers and board members shall be elected by a majority
vote of the members who are present and voting. All members shall be
eligible to vote in an election if, they have paid their dues at least
twenty-one (21) days prior to the date of the election. Election shall be by
voice vote, standing vote, show of hands, or roll call vote unless a secret
ballot is requested. There shall be no proxy voting. If no nominee receives
a majority vote on the first ballot, the name of the person receiving the
fewest votes shall be dropped from the list of nominees, and a second ballot
shall be taken. This procedure shall continue until one of the nominees has
received a majority vote from the members present and voting. The duties of
each officer shall be those ordinarily associated with that office. The
President, the Vice Presidents, and a majority of the Officers must be
blind.

 

ARTICLE V. BOARD OF DIRECTORS: 

The Board of Directors of this organization shall consist of the five (5)
constitutional officers and four (4) additional members. The four (4) Board
Members shall be elected at the same time and in the same manner as that
prescribed for the election of officers. The Board shall meet at least four
times each year, at the call of the President or on written call signed by
any three (3) of the Board Members. The Board shall advise the President and
shall have charge of the affairs of the organization between meetings. At
least a majority of the members of the Board must be present at any meeting
to constitute a quorum to transact business. The Board may be polled by
telephone, e-mail, or mail ballot on any questions. A majority of the Board
must be blind.

 

ARTICLE VI. MEETINGS: 

Section One - Regular Meetings: This organization shall hold regular
meetings at a time and place to be determined by the membership. At least 15
members must be present to constitute a quorum to transact business. 

Section Two - Special Meetings: The President of this organization may call
a special meeting of the body at any time he/she, or a majority of the Board
of Directors, deems such action to be necessary. At such special meeting at
least 15 members must be present to constitute a quorum to transact
business.

 

ARTICLE VII. COMMITTEES: 

The President may appoint such committees as he/she or the organization
deems necessary.

 

ARTICLE VIII. AFFILIATION: 

The National Federation of the Blind of Illinois Chicago Chapter shall be an
affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois and the
National Federation of the Blind and shall furnish to the President of the
National Federation of the Blind of Illinois upon request a list of the
names and addresses of elected officers and board members. A copy of the
Constitution of the National Federation of the blind of Illinois Chicago
Chapter and of all amendments to the Constitution shall be sent for review
to the President of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois and the
National Federation of the Blind without delay. This constitution and any
amendments to this constitution will not take affect until they are ratified
by the state board of directors of the National Federation of the Blind of
Illinois. The National Federation of the Blind of Illinois Chicago Chapter
shall not merely be a social organization but shall formulate programs and
actively work to promote the economic and social betterment of the blind.
This organization shall comply with the provisions of the Constitution of
the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois and the provisions of the
contract appearing on the back of the Charter of Affiliation issued to state
affiliates by the National Federation of the Blind. Policy decisions of the
National Federation of the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind of
Illinois (whether made by the National Convention or the National Board of
Directors or the State Convention or the State Board of Directors) are
binding on this organization, and this organization shall participate
affirmatively in carrying out such policy decisions. As a condition of
affiliation, it is agreed by this organization that the National Federation
of the Blind (whether by action of the National Convention or the National
Board or the State Convention or State Board) has the power to expel or
discipline an individual member and to expel or reorganize a state affiliate
or local chapter. In the event of reorganization, the assets of this
organization shall belong to the reorganized chapter or if no reorganization
occurs for a period of two years, to the National Federation of the Blind of
Illinois and the former chapter shall dissolve and cease to exist. The name
National Federation of the Blind, Federation of the Blind, or any variant
thereof is the property of the National Federation of the Blind; and this
organization, if it ceases to be a part of the National Federation of the
Blind, (for whatever reason) shall forfeit the right to use the name
National Federation of the Blind, Federation of the Blind, or any variant
thereof.

 

ARTICLE IX. DUES: 

The dues of this organization shall be set by the Board of Directors of the
Chicago chapter and are payable in advance on an annual basis and due on
January 1st of each calendar year. 

 

ARTICLE X. DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS: 

The funds of this organization shall be deposited in a bank to be selected
by the Treasurer with the approval of the President. All financial
obligations of this organization shall be discharged by check, issued on
written order of the President. Checks shall be issued by the Treasurer. 

 

ARTICLE XI. DISSOLUTION: 

In the event of the dissolution of this organization, or if (for whatever
reason) it ceases to be an affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind
of Illinois its assets shall be given to the National Federation of the
Blind of Illinois to be held in trust for a reorganized chapter in the area.
In the event that no chapter is reorganized in the area for a period of two
(2) years from the date this organization ceases to be an affiliate of the
National Federation of the Blind of Illinois the assets become the property
of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois.

 

ARTICLE XII. AMENDMENTS: 

This Constitution may be amended at any regular meeting of this organization
by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members present and voting,
provided the proposed amendment has been submitted in writing and read at a
previous business session and provided it is in compliance with the
provisions of the Charter of Affiliation received by the state affiliate
from the National Federation of the Blind and with the policies of the
National Federation of the Blind of Illinois and the National Federation of
the Blind.

 

 

Adopted: 

 

_______________________________________

Denise Avant, President NFBI Chicago Chapter

 

 

Following the reading of the proposed amended constitution, Denise thanked
Debbie and welcomed any questions before it's read again next month at the
December meeting. Dan asked two questions, how is majority defined, Patti
clarified it was over half and then he asked if it was available in writing
and Patti said she'd share it with him. Denise noted that as others are on
our listserv she has not put it out to our list but as members you are all
entitled to receive a copy of it upon request. The board did receive it
prior to this meeting and it will be read again December. Chris asked for a
definition of the word "blind". Patti shared that the NFB has a policy that
defines blind as a condition that necessitates of non-visual techniques in
one or more aspects of daily living, not requiring someone to be legally
blind. 


Denise then requested a motion for the approval of the Chicago Chapter
September Minutes taken by Kira O'Bradovich, Chapter Secretary, and sent out
over IL-Talk almost two weeks ago. She asked for a motion, Jemal moved, Dan
seconded, she asked for additions, deletions, or corrections, there were
none. Minutes were approved. 

 

Bob asked a question about the Constitution, wondering if the draft gives a
length of time for a board members term and Denise stated that yes, it was
one year. She then moved to the third quarter treasurer's report and invited
Steve, the treasurer to share. Steve gave the report for July, August
September 2022, beginning balance, Friday, July 1, $3,599.69. Income:
donation 7/12/22 $200, Dues: 07/30/2022 Paid at Chicago Chapter Picnic $5,
Mini Auctions & Chapter Meeting Donations: Saturday, August 13, 2022, $157,
Saturday September 10th, 2022, $132, Subtotal $289, Read-a-Thon $10, Total
$544. Expenses: Pre-Authorized Contribution to National Office $150, July,
August, September, Subtotal $150, Total $150. Ending Balance Friday,
September 30, 2022 is $3,953.69.

 

Dave moved to approve the treasurer's report, Jemal seconded, she asked if
there were any questions, there were none, additions, deletions, or
corrections, there were none. Treasurer's report was approved.

 

She then moved to Dave to give the fundraising report. Dave shared that next
Wednesday, there will be a fundraiser at Beggar's Pizza, allowing you to
celebrate thanksgiving with the Chicago Chapter, between 11:30am and closing
at 8:00pm, at 310 S. Clinton Avenue in Chicago. There is no additional
charge for your purchase, just identify yourself as someone who is there to
support the NFB Chicago Chapter and 20 percent of your purchase is donated
to our chapter. That does not include gratuity or delivery charges. They
would love to see everyone there, let's fill Beggar's, eat drink be merry,
and may the federation prosper. In December we will have our annual
Christmas auction, anyone who is interested in donating items please do so.
They will be having a fundraising meeting soon to discuss logistics. The
auction will follow the December Meeting, if you are paying for items you
can pay by cash, check, or Zelle and Michal will send that over to the
chapter. Over the last two years, they raised about $5,000 total and they
hope to raise over $2,000 again this year. For those who wish to help Santa
out please buy some gifts for others and yourselves. Denise reminded our
members that the fundraising goes to support the programs and activities of
the NFB, the state affiliate, and the Chicago Chapter. She reminded everyone
that Presidents Riccobono and Green shared information about the upcoming
Washington seminar and while we don't know the exact number of people who
will go to DC, they offer financial support to help those attend to advocate
for many acts including the transformation to competitive integrated
employment act, the medical device accessibility act, and the website
software application accessibility act. All of these are important to blind
people but this money is needed to help our members go so this is just one
of the ways we use the money that we fundraise for in this chapter. Steve
noted that we will begin at noon for the December meeting and Denise shared
that she will be double checking with Exchequer to ensure we can begin early
for our abbreviated meeting with the auction to follow. She said Dustin
Cather will be sending out an email on IL-Talk. 

 

She then asked Kira to give a report on the Chapter Advocacy & Legislative
Committee. Kira shared that we will have our next committee meeting this
Tuesday at 6pm on Zoom and the two topics that the committee is focused on
are accessibility with CTA messaging and train information and accessible
voting both by mail and in person. Please feel free to join the meeting, we
haven't delved too much into the CTA yet so please feel free to join, a
reminder will go out on IL-Talk tomorrow. Denise added that Sara Luna will
now serve on the CTA Advisory Board. She then asked if there were any
questions. Bruce asked what topics we are covering, purely accessible? For
him the bus and trains are the primary mode of transportation and he'd love
if there was a push to fix some of the issues with drivers. Kira said that
yes we are just starting to decide topics and recommendations so please join
the meeting to bring up ideas, prior we were focused on accessible
announcement and last year, with Steve's help, we worked on braille and
large print in the stations and on the trains/buses themselves. Robert
mentioned ghost buses, where he doesn't see buses for nearly 2 hours which
is hampering what he does and where he goes, he's doing a lot more walking
these days which is good for him but it's hard to keep up with a lot of
stuff, he knows the accessible stuff is important, but if you don't have
anything to ride that's not accessible. Denise noted that the ghost buses
are a problem for everyone whether you are blind or not but the committee is
focused on issues related directly to accessibility so we get the
information we need when they do show up. She knows that the CTA is aware of
delays and issues but that is something we have to look to just as citizens
of the city of Chicago. She then checked to see who would be interested in
staying for a bit after the meeting. 

 

Melissa Fuller finally was able to speak after technical difficulties and
she said she'd had a conversation with an old college sweetheart a few weeks
ago who is sighted and she explained to him how she connected with NFB when
she first understood blindness. That is when Dave Meyer explained how if he
had an opportunity to get his sight back, he would prefer not to as he
doesn't know what numbers or letters look like and his world would be
different from him. She explained it to her friend and he thought that was
crazy but as someone who had vision loss over ten years ago she understood
what Dave would talk about and that's how she was finally able to connect
with NFB and people who have been blind all of their life. She wondered if
there was any other opportunity for fundraising events, specifically for
Zanies, and Denise suggested she reach out to Dave and maybe it's something
the committee would bring to the chapter. Denise also thanked her for going
through the zoom training with Patti, she's in the midst of pairing the
inexperience zoom hosts with the more experienced hosts so her time to be a
host is coming.

 

Denise then asked for any old business, there was none. Then she asked for
new business and Michelle asked about the Beggar's fundraiser and if you
could go to any location and Denise said that it was only the 310 S.
Clinton. Steve mentioned a minor technicality to ensure that all know it's
Clinton Street, not Clinton Avenue. Denise then opened the floor to approve
new members, Michelle Alt was voted in as a member of the Chicago Chapter
and was congratulated. Denise then called for a motion adjourn and the
meeting was ended. 

 

She then wished everyone a happy thanksgiving and said she'd see everyone
next month. She also noted that if you have any updates to your contact
information to please reach out to Patti Chang at (773) 307-6440 or
<mailto:pattichang at gmail.com> pattichang at gmail.com.

 

 

Signed and Submitted by, 

Kira O'Bradovich

Secretary

Chicago Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois







 

 

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