[Massachusetts-NFB] Cambridge Chapter November Minutes

Fri Nov 17 05:27:25 UTC 2023

Hi Everyone,
The minutes from the Cambridge Chapter's November meeting are attached and pasted below.
Thanks,
Cullen
Cambridge Chapter Minutes, November 13, 2023

The November meeting of the Cambridge Chapter was held as a hybrid meeting at Cambridge citywide senior center and on Zoom. It was called to order at 6:09 PM.
In attendance:

Sengil Inkiala
Rick Camann
Ellen Bartelt
Shirley Dorris
ElizabethAnn Johnson
Kobena Bonney
Mark Paquette
Mika Pyyhkala
Tammy Febbi
Tracy Carvalho
Cullen Gallagher
Angey Manerson
Kevin Hu
Linh Pham
Siddharth Ur
Al Sten-Clanton
Masha Sten-Clanton
Stephanie Valdes
David Ticchi
Shara Winton
Stephen Yerardi
Bronwen Tedesco
John Oliveira
Andrew Johnson
Jen Bose
Shannon Cantan
Justin Heard
Kyra Sweeney
Pledge

Masha led the NFB Pledge.
Approval of Minutes

Inky moved that the minutes be accepted as presented; the motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
Treasurer’s Report

Mika presented the Treasurer’s Report. Donations for the walk are still coming in. As of the last report on November 11, we have received $5,693 in donations. We had a $34.34 charge for the website domain renewal. The available account balance is $4,971.95. Chapters typically keep about $1,500 in their accounts to avoid having to become separate 501(c) entities. Mika will work with Kobena to bring the balance down to the recommended amount. 
Stephen moved that the Treasurer's Report be accepted; the motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
Kobena announced that Inky's high school has made a donation of approximately $1,700, which Inky has designated for the Cambridge Chapter. 
Presidential Release

Justin presented highlights from the November Presidential Release. <https://nfb.org/sites/nfb.org/files/2023-11/presidential_release_november_2023_chapter_version_final.mp3>
Washington Seminar

Washington Seminar will be held from January 29 to February 1. If you are planning to attend, make your hotel reservations now as rooms are going quickly. If you are not able to get a room, contact John or Jesse at the national office, or call Shara and she'll reach out for you. 
We had a good turn out last year, but we had more people than were really needed. The affiliate will sponsor nine members to attend, plus Shara and legislative chairs Mika and Debbie. If you are interested in attending, please email Shara. 
State Convention Update

Shara provided the following updates on our convention.
By Friday, the phone number for booking hotel rooms will be sent out to the list. 
During lunch on Saturday, there will be the option of going to local restaurants as a group. There will be four lunch leaders who will help with making reservations and navigating to one of the restaurants. Each group leader will select a restaurant. You can also go somewhere on your own or eat at the hotel. 
All other meals will be included. 
Please note that the hotel rooms do not include a refrigerator. You can request one for medical reasons.
Augmentation Project

Kevin, Linh and Sid presented the project they are working on at Harvard, focusing on the future of work for the blind. meeting last week with some NFB members, they learned about the technology interventions we use, issues entering the workforce and ways of turning visual information into other forms. One of the things they noticed is that many interventions require the blind person to Carrie the intervention themselves on a phone or smart device. There have not been many interventions where the technology is integrated directly into the environment. They cited the San Francisco lighthouse as a location that does have this intigrated. They want to explore creating a device that can retrofit existing spaces that were not designed to be accessible. They would like to learn about how we navigate spaces we are not familiar with, this would help them with their research.
Members emphasized the importance of working with us to ensure that anything developed is needed and helpful. Nothing about us without us. The point was also raised at Universal design would be better than building specifically for the blind.
We will have another zoom meeting to allow them to speak to us again. This will be held on November 29 at 7:00 PM. They are also interested in speaking to members individually, and you can contact Shara to be put in touch with them. David also suggested that we have someone from the national office on as they are a major work environment for the blind.
Christmas Party

Our Christmas party will be held at John Brewers Tavern in Waltham on December 11 at 6:00 PM. We will have a brief meeting and then eating and activities. The chapter will cover up to $25 per person. We had a Yankee swap last year and it was a lot of fun. We will do it again, and the maximum gift price will be $20 this year. Stephanie will make the numbers for the game again this year, and Shara will MC. Shirley will send out an email about the party, and we can either respond to it or call the Google voice number to RSVP 
Bake Sale Update

We raised $551 at the bake sale. A big thank you to everyone who baked. 
Next Meeting

The Christmas party is December 11. For our January meeting at the senior center, Stephanie and Ellen volunteered to bring snacks.
Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 7:38 PM.

Cullen Gallagher
Affiliate Secretary and Cambridge Chapter Secretary: National Federation of the Blind of Massachusetts

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.

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