[IL-Talk] Chicago Chapter Minutes, May 13, 2023

[Patti S Chang]

The section on Senate Bill 282 is not quite right. S 282 is not the omnibus
bill. We hope that it would be added to an omnibus bill. Hope this is
helpful. 


Patti Chang
2nd Vice President
National Federation of the Blind of Illinois
https://www.nfbofillinois.org 
Pronouns: she, her, hers

-----Original Message-----
From: IL-Talk <il-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Deborah Kent Stein
via IL-Talk
Sent: Monday, June 5, 2023 12:27 AM
To: il-talk at nfbnet.org
Cc: Deborah Kent Stein <dkent5817 at att.net>; iabs-talk at nfbnet.org
Subject: [IL-Talk] Chicago Chapter Minutes, May 13, 2023

 

 

NFBI CHICAGO CHAPTER

May 13, 2023

Exchequer Pub and Restaurant

226 S. Wabash, Chicago

 

CALL TO ORDER

 

Denise Avant called the meeting to order at 1:02 PM. Present in person were
Denise Avant, Debbie Stein, Marilyn Green, Kira O'Bradovitch, Francisco
Chang, Marty Kummetz from Blind Services Association, Kyle Chelino, Ken
Schad, Eileen Truschke, David Meyer, Pam Gillmore, Gary Jones, Ken Borst,
Jemal Powell, first-timer Dave Kumkulka, Steve Hastalis, Mary Grunwald, Ed
Birmingham, Michelle Ault, first-timer Alex Gillaspy, Bruce Paul, Glenn
Moore, Melissa Fuller, Dan Tevelde, Chris Milsap, Michal Nowicki, and Patti
Chang. Jemal Powell asked for thoughts and prayers for his father, who is in
the hospital. Kyle Chelino announced that he just started a job with
Chick-Fil-A. Steve Hastalis shared that he will have cardiac oblation
surgery on Monday. First-timer Olivia xxx arrived later and announced that
she just graduated from North Central College in Naperville.

 

Several more people took part in the meeting on Zoom: Alisha Green, Debbie
Pittman, Dustin Cather, Robert Hansen, Bob Lee, Ellen Bartelt, Gina Falvo,
and Bob Widman. 

 

The mic was not working well during  the meeting, and Denise encouraged
everyone to use their outdoor voice.

 

PROGRAM

 

Marty Kummetz from Blind Service Chicago talked about their history and
program. Blind Services was founded one hundred  years ago by a woman in
Hyde Park who was very involved with literacy programs. She began by reading
to blind children in her home. By 1930 she and women from her synagogue
shifted their focus to secondary and college students and adults. Services
revolved around reading and recording for blind people. 

 

During the pandemic Blind Service volunteers read to people via Zoom and
telephone. There are empowerment groups for adults and students. There  are
still recording services to cover materials that are not available
elsewhere. There are now special interest groups and clubs, including a
popular knitting club. A short selections group involves listening to a
short story or passage of literature. The stress management workshop is very
popular. Movies with audio description are shown monthly, and there are also
tours and excursions. BSA hopes to bring back computer training and to
provide equipment for clients to use.

 

Dave Meyer asked how people can access the monthly newsletter and how a
person can become a BSA client. The newsletter can be accessed via email,
large print, Braille, and via podcast. Services are offered to people in
Chicago and northern Illinois after a brief intake.  

 

Denise asked whether there will be more evening volunteers now that the
pandemic is over. Blind Service is now open until seven on Mondays and
Thursdays, and they may extend the time to eight. Reading appointments are
always for two hours. 

 

On October 7 BSA will host the Vision Connection at the Chicago Hilton and
Towers. The Chicago Chapter is looking into getting a table at this event.

 

The phone number for BSA is 312-236-0808. Over the phone you can ask to join
the mailing list in your preferred format.

 

STATE REPORT

 

Jernigan Convention Scholarships: NFBI President Marilyn Green announced
that we will have four Jernigan Convention Scholarship winners at this
year's national convention. There is still time to pre-register for
convention and get a hotel room. 

 

BELLR Academy: Our Chicago BELL program will be held July 17-28 at the
Chicago Lighthouse. Springfield BELL will run July 31 to August 4. Right now
we have four children registered for Chicago, two for Springfield, and one
for In Home Edition. There is still time for children to register for
Chicago and Springfield.

 

NFB and NFBI Scholarships: The state scholarship application deadline is May
31. Interested persons should contact scholarship co-chairs Debbie Stein or
Patti Chang. Illinois has a National Scholarship finalist, Ernest Emmanuel
Peebles. He is an advocate and actor. He has albinism and wants to be a
voice for people with this condition. He is from Georgia and is earning a
master's degree at U. of Illinois in Champaign. We hope he will become
active with us here in Illinois.

 

State Convention: State Convention will be held October 13 and 14 at the
Chicago Marriott-Naperville Hotel. The face-to-face board meeting will take
place at the same hotel on August 19. The board meeting is an opportunity
for people to get familiar with the hotel and to become informed about the
programs we have. All are welcome, and there will be a Zoom link for people
who can't be there in person.

 

For state convention our room rate will be $119 per night. Make reservations
now for the board meeting and the state convention. The format for state
convention will be different this year. We will start at 9 AM on Friday and
adjourn after the banquet Saturday night. 

 

FEDERAL LEGISLATION

 

Dustin Cather reported that the Access Technology Affordability Act was
introduced into the Senate as S 1467 by Sen. Benjamin Cardin, a Democrat
from Maryland; Sen. John Boozman, a Republican from Arkansas; Democrat Ron
Wyden of Oregon; and Paul Jones, a Republican from Indiana. There is no
House equivalent as of yet. We all need to contact our senators and urge
them to become cosponsors. 

 

The Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act was introduced to the House
as HR 1328 by Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky. Currently it has forty-eight
cosponsors. 

 

The Transformation to Competitive and Integrated Employment Act has been
introduced into both houses. The Senate bill is S 531, and the House bill is
HR 1263. It has fifty cosponsors, but none of them come from Illinois. 

 

Denise noted that our congressional representatives will be coming home
soon, so now is the time to start reaching out to them. Cosponsors from the
previous congressional session have not signed back on, and we need to
remind them to do so.

 

Debbie Pittman asked for information about the Joe Orozco case, which
regards accessibility in federal jobs. Joe works as an analyst for the FBI.
The federal government is supposed to make sure its software and platforms
are accessible under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. The DC Circuit
Court found in Joe's favor, which means the FBI has to make its workplace
accessible.

 

NATIONAL REPORT

 

NFB President Mark Riccobono encouraged people to apply for jobs at our
national headquarters. The NFB is always looking for talented people to run
its programs.

 

Social Media: The Federation is active across many social media platforms.
We want to reach the general public and also blind people who may not know
us. Due to recent developments, Twitter may no longer be an appropriate
platform for communicating our message. Twitter has laid off many staff
members, including all of its accessibility staff. We are also now asked to
pay to have a verified account. We don't want to abandon supporters who use
Twitter, but we are starting to build a new community on Mastodon. President
Riccobono invited all of us to launch NFBs social presence on Mastodon and
to help shape our community there going forward. Mastodon is not controlled
by any particular company. We are launching an account with nfb.social. Find
nationsblind at nfb.social. 

 

Guide Dogs: Lately we have heard several news stories about people using
guide dogs who have been negatively impacted in a number of situations. One
of our members recently was denied a seat on a plane because she was
traveling with a guide dog. Several members of the Governmental Affairs
Committee and Al Elia of the National Association of Guide Dog Users met
with senior officials at the US Department of Transportation. If you have
experienced discrimination by the airlines while traveling with a guide dog,
contact Al Elia at aelia at nagdu.org. Be sure to file a complaint with the
Department of Transportation immediately. 

 

Teachers of Tomorrow: We are in the process of recruiting a new cohort for
our Teachers of Tomorrow program. Applications for the 2023-24 cohort are
now open. The program connects current and future teachers of blind students
with blind individuals and with the leaders and resources of the NFB. The
program is open to people who are studying to become teachers of the blind
or who have been teaching for up to five years.

 

National Convention: The room rate at the Marriott is now $125 per night.
Resolutions are due by June 1. Send them to resolutions at nfb.org. Donald
Porterfield will chair the Resolutions Committee this year. Long-time
committee chair Sharon Maneki will be a special advisor to the new chair.

 

News of Our Federation Family: Patti Chang says people still can become part
of the Dream-makers Circle before convention. There will be a special event
for new members during convention this year.

Dennis Holter of California, Juanita Bronton of Colorado, Frank Carrillo of
Texas, and Woodrow Berry of Virginia are all recent losses from our
Federation family. Duran Tucker and DeShawn Dodson of Georgia are newly
married.

 

Patti said that Jonathan Mosen created a great podcast about Mastodon on
Living Blindfully. 

 

NFB NEWSLINE

 

Because we had several new members at the meeting, Dave Meyer introduced NFB
NewslineR. Newsline has about 500 US newspapers, papers in Spanish, and
several international papers. There are numerous magazines, and there are
job listings. The Illinois State Library sponsors Newsline in Illinois. You
can apply through the library or by contacting Dave. Newsline is accessible
with a standard touch-tone telephone, with a cellphone, on a PC or laptop,
and on a digital Talking Book machine. Dave's number is 708-606-7091, and
his email is datemeyer at sbcglobal.net. Newsline is a free service to
individual subscribers.

 

SECRETARY'S MINUTES

 

Ken Borst moved and Jemal Powell seconded acceptance of the April 1 minutes.
The minutes were approved unanimously.

 

TREASURER'S REPORT

 

Treasurer Kira O'Bradovitch reported that the collection brought in $83.76.
The treasury is in transition, and past treasurer Steve Hastalis said that
the treasury currently has $3259.55. 

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS

 

Fundraising: Dave Meyer said the Fundraising Committee is working on a
bowling fundraiser for August 5. Details will be forthcoming. A mini-auction
was scheduled for today's meeting. We will hold a Read-a-Thon on October 28.
We will have a fundraiser at Beggar's Pizza on November 15, at 310 South
Clinton. And of course in December we will host our annual holiday auction. 

 

Advocacy Committee: The Advocacy Committee is working to arrange a meeting
with the CTA Advisory Commissioner to discuss several concerns about
transit. We want to advocate for audible announcements in the stations to
give information about trains that are coming in. We also want to encourage
better  training of bus drivers to be sure they don't turn down the audible
announcements. The committee is also working on in-person voting. Marilyn,
Denise, and Kira plan to meet with Max Faber at the Chicago Board of
Elections to look at accessibility of the new voting machines and training
of poll workers. The next meeting is scheduled for May 24. 

 

Denise brought us up to date on accessible ballot return for mail-in
ballots. SB 282 is an omnibus election bill that could include accessible
ballot return. We don't know whether the omnibus bill will reach the
legislature, and we don't know whether our provision will be included. Many
of us made calls to let our reps know the importance of this issue. We won't
know anything until May 19.

 

AUCTION ITEMS

 

Pam Gillmore brought four restaurant certificates for a mini-auction, and Ed
Birmingham served as auctioneer.

 

NEW BUSINESS

 

Debbie Pittman urged people to file a report if their paratransit ride is an
hour or more late. Users will get a ticket at the end of the quarter. Debbie
also announced that on May 30 the Harold Washington Library will air an
audio-described movie. We got the Talking Book Center re-opened, and we need
to use the services it provides. 

 

Denise said the Taxi Access program was free during the pandemic, but now it
will cost $2 per ride. If you lose your card it will cost $6 to replace it,
and it will take three weeks. 

 

Steve said that ICB Metro Chicago chapter is having a fundraiser at Calder's
at 4939 West Irving Park Road. They support many of our fundraisers, and we
should reciprocate when we can. 

 

Steve noted that we recently lost a former chapter member, Dale Waltof. His
passing was mentioned in the April Presidential Release. 

 

ADJOURNMENT

 

Marilyn moved and Denise seconded adjourning the meeting. The meeting
adjourned at 3:07 PM.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Debbie Stein, Secretary

                

 

 

a

 



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