[IL-Talk] at large minutes august 2026

[Leslie Hamric]

Correction, I am Vice-President of our large chapter. I'm only mentioning that because you had put in attendance were President David Meyer. But then there was no vice president before my name. Thanks.
Leslie Hamric
Cello and Braille Music Teacher
Vice-President of National Federation of the Blind of Illinois At Large  Chapter


> On Aug 30, 2026, at 3:05 PM, David Meyer via IL-Talk <il-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 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:
> 
> 
> 
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