[IL-Talk] at large minutes august 2026

[datemeyer at sbcglobal.net]

NFBI At Large Chapter August Minutes

August 2nd, 2026

ZOOM Meeting

CALL TO ORDER

At Large Chapter President David Meyer called the meeting to order at 7:02

PM. Persons in attendance were: President David Meyer, Leslie Hamric, Eileen
Truschke,

Michelle Ault, Linda Hendle, Debbie Pittman, Marilyn Green, Cloyues Myles,
Yvonne Agyarko, Jemal

Powell, Dennis Devitt, Ember Thompson, Yifan Shen, Maryam Ebadi, Mark
Peters, Dan Gistenson, and  Ken Schadd. The topic for introductions was to
share one experience when we advocated for ourselves.

PROGRAM ITEM

Debbie Pittman introduced the program item. Cloyues Myles participated in
the Disability Pride  Parade this year and shared her experience as a first
timer. It was a great day and the weather was  perfect. She had to be there
at 10:00 and the parade started at 11:00. People from other organizations
were there and they had a float of people that were wheelchair blind, blind,
and deaf blind. They  marched from the Plymouth side of the Harold
Washington Library to Dearborn and Washington. It was  real exciting and as
they were marching people were cheering them on. Daley Plaza had tables with
information about different groups, such as MOPD, Access Living, UIC, and
Shirley Ryan. People who  participated in farmers markets were also there.
There was a lot of people there with  disabilities, people in wheelchairs
getting around , greeting each other. This was her first time  and she is
looking forward to participating next year. It was a very happy moment for
her because  she was with her community, they were out there, shouting,
marching together, standing by what they  are representing as a community.
It was just so exciting, especially after coming from National  Convention
where she also had a great experience as well. She let us know that it does
not stop  there, that it was a great thing that other people like herself
are out there advocating for our  rights and all that we deserve for
ourselves when it comes to accommodations and accessibility. We  know what
is best for us.

After Cloyues gave her presentation, David Meyer told us about another
opportunity we can  participate in to get ourselves out and moving around.
Its called the Coast to Coast Movement  Challenge. We have a recording by
Patti Chang, who is the director of outreach, that describes what  it is and
what we are expected to do. David Meyer shared the recording for all of us
to hear. There  are two main goals to this Campaign. Its a fundraiser but it
also creates public awareness. It  makes people understand that we have
capacity, and that we all just dont sit at home. The Chapters  need to
decide what they want to do, anything that involves movement. Hiking,
biking,dancing,  spinning, and yoga are a few examples. Our chapters can
register at:

nfb.org/movers

Once the Chapter is registered they would be committing to a $250.00 minimum
fundraising goal and  toolkits are available to help us. We need to have a
movement Champion in the chapter registered  and that person attends monthly
meetings and the next one is August 17th. The movement champion is  the
cheerleader for the chapter. For more information we can contact Rachel Held
at extension 2423  or  rheld at nfb.org .

Last year we participated with the Chicago Chapter in a River walk and they
raised money for At  Large. This year we decided to do our Coast to Coast
Movement Challenge differently from the  Chicago Chapter. What we do could
also be one of the activities we are doing for Blind Equality  Achievement
Month which is also in October. Suggestions made were walking on a trend
mill, doing a  neighborhood walk, walking around the park, getting the
entire chapter involved. Jemal Powell made  a motion that we participate in
the Coast to Coast Movement Challenge and Mark Peters seconded. All  in
favor said Aye and no one opposed. Linda Hendle will be our Chapter
Cheerleader. She will be  attending meetings, and keeping track of what the
At Large Chapter will be doing. Linda Hendle made  a motion that we have the
Coast to Coast Challenge done on Saturday, October 17th, between 12:00 to
2:00. Leslie Hamric seconded. All in favor said Aye and no one opposed. The
Ayes had it. Linda  Hendle will report on our Coast to Coast Challenge at
our At Large Chapter meeting on Sunday,  November 1st, at 7:00PM. This is a
National Fundraiser and Linda Hendle will give us more  information on how
donations could be made after she attends the meeting of the Champions.

PRESIDENTIAL RELEASE

This is Presidential Release number 562. President Mark Riccobono thanked
everybody who put effort  into making our 2026 National Convention in
Austin, Texas one of the best. We are looking forward to  being back in
Austin next year. We were reminded to fill out the convention feedback
survey.  Getting feedback from the membership is really important to us as
we continue to make our  convention better every single year. 

President Mark Riccobono talked to us about Blind Equality Achievement
Month. If you were at the  convention, you know that we passed Resolution
2026-01 regarding the Texas versus Kennedy case and  this should be
celebrated.

This case is a critical matter as it relates to our full integration into
society and threats being  made to our rights under the law. When the
convention passed the Resolution, our Texas affiliate  and six other
affiliate presidents went down to the Attorney Generals office and delivered
the  resolution and encouraged the Texas Attorney General to withdraw from
the case. That has not  happened, but since our convention, we have had four
of the states withdraw either officially or  quietly from the case. This
includes Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Montana. Congratulations to  our
affiliates there in those states for the great advocacy work done and to
others who keep the  pressure on these states. We do need to keep the
pressure on because we still have three states  involved in this case
besides Texas. We continue to have Alaska and Florida as parties to this
case. These affiliates have pushed hard to get their states out of this
case. Our advocacy work  along with that of others throughout the community
has made a big difference.

Keep on the pressure and hopefully this case will be in our memories very
soon.

President Mark Riccobono talked to us about our Blind Equality Achievement
Month, which is coming  up in October. This is the time of year where we try
to have a focused effort on our chapters  influencing public perceptions and
understanding about blindness by engaging directly in the  community. This
happens all throughout the year, but October is a time where we really try
to  concentrate that effort and make sure that every chapter is getting out
there to do an activity. An  idea President Mark Riccobono suggested that we
can do to help magnify Blind Equality Achievement  Month in 2026, is to join
the Coast to Coast Movement Challenge.

This is easy because this is already an initiative we have going on. Its a
fundraising effort, but  also meant to get our chapters out and active in
some form. It does not have to be a walk or run,  maybe you are going to go
to the local bowling alley. We want our members out in the community doing
something active that might change the perceptions of others about blind
people and give us some  attention.

Another thing that we could do is celebrate White Cane Awareness Day, on
October 15th, is holding  an awareness event, doing a demonstration. Maybe
some affiliates and chapters have worked with  local police departments to
emphasize the White Cane law and making sure that drivers have an
awareness. So utilizing that October 15th day is another possibility. Many
chapters and affiliates  also will go out and get proclamations around
October 15th. And this is a good opportunity to  engage the mayor, the
county council, whatever the governing authority is locally. Maybe get some
commitments from those public officials besides a nice proclamation. Get
some commitment to work on  a particular aspect of accessibility that is
important for blind people in the community. 

We also have the opportunity to tell the stories about blind peoples
achievements, our  aspirations, the work that we are doing in the local
community. There could be an opportunity to  elevate the stories of chapter
members who own local businesses or who work in the local schools.  Telling
our stories is always an effective way to change peoples understanding and
both their  hearts and their mind. We could also conduct an accessibility
action in the community. We could  focus on a governmental web site, voting
system access, potentially pedestrian intersection issues.  There might be a
public building or business that the chapter wants to do an audit of, and
then  meet with the officials or business owners to share the findings and
help work with them on  improving those accessibility issues.

The Chapters could offer a meet and greet style community event where people
can come meet blind  people, meet the members of the National Federation of
the Blind, learn about what we do, what our  philosophy is, and help people
truly understand the techniques that blind people use, the  technology we
use, and use that as an outreach tool. We could recognize a local leader or
business  for their accessibility work. We might have been encouraging some
accessibility in the community  and maybe in the last year, someone or some
entity has done exceptional work, not just the minimum  amount, but really
going above and beyond. October can be a great time to recognize that
business  or that individual and encourage others to do more of those
activities. We can also go into schools  or community organizations to do a
presentation about blindness, the experiences of blind people,  the barriers
that blind people face, and the misconceptions that we experience to educate
them on  how they can be positive forces for helping us avoid those
misconceptions and that low expectations  treatment in the future.

We could also hold an event, to invite new people to be members of the
Federation. October is a  great time to hold a membership awareness
reception, to invite people to become members of the  Federation. We can ask
members of the chapter to bring a blind person who is not yet a member to
the  event to try to encourage more active participation in the work of the
Federation in the community.

President Mark Riccobono also suggested that at the end of Blind Equality
Achievement Month 2026,  each chapter identifies a goal for our community of
something we want to make happen, whether its  improving transportation or
doing work on the scooters that get left everywhere, or protecting  voting
rights in the community, developing a particular program, improving
pedestrian safety by  working on our resolution as it relates to audible
pedestrian signals. Pick a goal that the chapter  can achieve and use that
as inspiration and work for the following 11 months so that when we get to
Blind Equality Achievement Month 2027, we can celebrate our success on that
goal. If we do an  innovative event, we can write an article for the Braille
Monitor. We dont just want to bring  blind people together. We want our
chapters to get out in the community to make those public  connections so
that the general public knows we are here but also that we can answer their
questions  and dispel the misunderstanding that they have about the capacity
of blind people and give them  real information about how they can be useful
in terms of our full integration into society in  terms of equality.

APPROVAL OF JUNE MINUTES

Debbie Pittman moved and Linda Hendle seconded. All in favor said AYE and
minutes were approved.

STATE PRESIDENTS REPORT

Our Illinois State President, Marilyn Green, gave our State Presidents
Report. Marilyn Green  thanked everyone who attended our National Convention
from Illinois. Our State Board meeting will  be held on Sunday, August 16th.
It will be at the Hyatt Regency in Lisle, IL. The address is: 1400
Corporetum Dr., Lisle, IL This is also where we will be having our State
Convention. If you are  unable to attend in person you can also ZOOM in. We
start at 9;00 AM and will adjourn around  11:30/12:00 for lunch. We will
come back into session and will adjourn sometime between 2:00 and  3:00.
This is an opportunity to learn about what is happening in the National
Federation of the  Blind of Illinois and to learn what is happening at our
State Convention. The face to face board  meeting is a great way to explore
and get familiar with the hotel before our State Convention.

We will be having our second STEM2U program coming up on August 15th. STEM
is science, technology,  engineering, and math.

Our State Convention is being held October 23rd-October 25th. We do have
some modest financial  assistance available. The form to fill out is
Chappell Dennis and it is completely online. The  deadline to submit this
form is 11:59PM, September 1st. To make reservations for our hotel rooms we
can go to:

nfbofillinois.org/convention

There is a phone number and a link to make our reservations online. The link
takes you right to the  dates. The check-in-date that is populated is
October 22nd because some people do go there the  night before. If you are
coming in on a different date you would have to change that. If you decide
to call, let them know you are with the National Federation of the Blind of
Illinois. If you are  told that there are no more rooms with two queens or a
room with a king in our room block please  reach out to Patti Chang
regarding that or anything to do with the hotel. You can call her at:
773-307-6440 or you can email her at:

pattischang at gmail.com

The cut off date for the room block is earlier than it normally is, around
September 15th, so make  your reservations early to get the room block rate.
The 2026 room rate is $129 a night for single  or double occupancy and $159
a night for triple occupancy, plus applicable taxes. Please book  within our
room block, book early for that special room rate in our room block, and if
you need to  cancel your reservations reach out to Marilyn Green first. You
can call or text her at 312-343-8396  or email her at:

president at nfbofillinois.org

Our State Convention is at the Hyatt Regency Lisle which is a new hotel for
us this year. We plan  to keep the same format as last year. We will have
registration on Friday from 2;00 until 5:00. You  can also check out our
exhibitors at that time. Resolutions will start at 4:00 PM and then we will
go into general sessions from 5:00-6:30. We will be having Braille is
Beautiful. This script is  prerecorded so if you are an advanced Braille
reader or just getting started, there are parts for  everyone. If you are
interested in playing a part please reach out to Debbie Stein. Also if you
know of any Springfield or Chicago NFB BELL Academy students who might be
interested let them know  so their families can reach out to Debbie. Her
number is to call or text is: 773-203-1394 or you  can email her at:

dkent5817 at att.net

We will have our NFBS Got Talent Fundraiser that evening which is $5.00 per
entry along with our  Battle of The Chapters. 

We will start our Saturday off with breakfast at 7:00 AM. There will be time
for registration and  also time to check out our exhibitors that morning. We
will have some breakouts from 9:00 until  11:30. We will go into General
Sessions at noon with some lunch, presentations, and a national  report from
our national rep. We will adjourn at 2:30, come back at 3;00 for some
closing remarks.  At 3:00 we will have our business meeting with the
treasurers report, the presidential report, and  our elections. We will have
some hospitality before our banquet begins at 7:00. At our banquet we  will
hear from our national representative and award our State Scholarships.
Things usually wrap up  around 9:30/10:00.

On Sunday morning we will have our Breakfast with Philosophy. If anyone has
any suggestions for  what they would like to see at this years State
Convention please reach out to Marilyn Green and  let her know. We are
hoping to have registration for our State Convention to go live next week.
It  is also very important to let Marilyn Green know first if something
comes up and you need to cancel  your reservation. Let her know before you
cancel your reservation.

OLD BUSINESS

The time for our Movement Event on October 17th is from 12:00 to 2:00. We do
not have to spend the  entire time doing movement but we will be covering
our Coast to Coast Movement within that time  frame on that date for the At
Large Chapter.

NEW BUSINESS

Our next meeting will be on September 6th at 7:00 PM. We will be deciding on
our song for NFBs Got  Talent, which was formerly IABS Idol. We will also be
having our Bowling Fundraiser on Saturday,  August 22nd, from 2:00PM to
4:00PM. It will be at Fireside Lanes. The address is 2648 W. Fullerton
Avenue in Chicago. The cost is $35.00 to bowl or be a spectator. There will
be pizza provided.  Beverages will not be included. Let David Meyer know if
you plan to bowl or be a spectator. The  deadline to register by is August
17th. After August 17th it will cost $40.00. His email address is:

datemeyer at sbcglobal.net .

You may also call him at: 708-606-7091.

ADJOURNMENT

Marilyn Green moved and Debbie Pittman seconded. All those in favor said
Aye. The meeting was  adjourned at 9:04 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Michelle Ault

Secretary/Treasurer

Date: