[IL-Talk] April at large minutes

[debbiepittman99 at gmail.com]

Way to go Michelle.


Debbie P 






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Subject: [IL-Talk] april at large minutes

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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