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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p>All,<o:p></o:p></p><p>Below is information about our 2022 Week in Annapolis. <o:p></o:p></p><p>1. WE are looking for volunteers to attend meetings with the Maryland General Assembly during our NFBMD Week In Annapolis. <o:p></o:p></p><p>2. We are also looking for volunteers to serve as Zoom hosts for those meetings. <o:p></o:p></p><p>3. We are sharing information about issue training meetings so participants can prepare to talk about our legislative priorities for the 2022 General Assembly. <o:p></o:p></p><p>4. We are sharing the Fact Sheets for our two legislative priorities for 2022. <o:p></o:p></p><p>5. We are explaining when each geographic area will have the bulk of its meetings.<o:p></o:p></p><p>6. We are providing the Zoom information for the Issues Training meetings.<o:p></o:p></p><p><o:p> </o:p></p><p>This year, instead of our usual Day in Annapolis, we will be holding a Week in Annapolis. Our Week in Annapolis dates are January 20 – 27, 2022. <o:p></o:p></p><p><o:p> </o:p></p><h2><span style='font-weight:normal'>1. Seeking Volunteers to Participate in Legislative Meetings<o:p></o:p></span></h2><p>We will specifically have meetings on January 20, 25, 26, and 27. We have broken down the 188 appointments by geographic area, and so we do need volunteers to participate in those virtual meetings. We’d like people to attend the meetings for their particular district (and we’ll try to make that happen) and also the general geographic area surrounding their district. But there are also districts with few NFBMD constituents, so we are also looking for folks who can attend any district meetings on any day. More information about the geographic breakdown later on this page. Meanwhile, if you are available to participate in any of the days January 20, 25, 26, or 27 for our NFBMD 2022 Week in Annapolis, please let Sharon Maneki, our Director of Legislation and Advocacy know. You can email her at Nfbmdsm@gmail.com or at 410-715-9596. Please let her know by the end of the day Tuesday, January 18, 2022 if you can participate. Be sure to tell her your name, how we can best reach you (email is preferred but not required) to share Zoom information, your state legislative district, if you know it, and your county.<o:p></o:p></p><p><o:p> </o:p></p><h2><span style='font-weight:normal'>2. Seeking Zoom Hosts for Legislative Meetings<o:p></o:p></span></h2><p>We are also in need of folks who are comfortable hosting Zoom meetings. If you are able to perform the duties of a Zoom host, please contact Ronza Othman to let her know what days you are available. You do not need to provide a Zoom account for us to use to be a host. Please email Ronza Othman at President@nfbmd.org by Tuesday, January 18, 2022.<o:p></o:p></p><p><o:p> </o:p></p><h2><span style='font-weight:normal'>3. Training on Issues<o:p></o:p></span></h2><p>We will also be holding a meeting to prepare for the Week in Annapolis and go over the issues, teams, and assignments. Team Leads will attend a separate meeting (on January 19 at 8PM; Sharon will send out the meeting information to team leads directly) in addition to the issues meetings. The issues meeting will take place at 7:30PM on<br>Sunday, January 16, 2022. The access information for the meeting can be found at the bottom of this message.<o:p></o:p></p><p><o:p> </o:p></p><h2><span style='font-weight:normal'>4. Legislative Priorities and Fact Sheets<o:p></o:p></span></h2><p>This year, there are two legislative priorities:<o:p></o:p></p><ul type=disc><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'>a. Accountability Act for Accessibility in K-12 Education for Students with Disabilities<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'>b. Funding for the Center for Excellence in Nonvisual Access<o:p></o:p></li></ul><p><o:p> </o:p></p><p><o:p> </o:p></p><h2><span style='font-weight:normal'>5. Schedule of Meeting Broken Down by Geographic Area<o:p></o:p></span></h2><p>We have tried to organize constituent meetings by geographic location. <o:p></o:p></p><p>- Thursday, January 20 – Ann Arundel, Howard, Carrol, and Frederick Counties<o:p></o:p></p><p>- Tuesday, January 25 – Western Maryland, Eastern Shore, Southern Maryland (Tri-county area), and Harford County<o:p></o:p></p><p>- Wednesday, January 26 – Baltimore City and Baltimore Counties<o:p></o:p></p><p>- Thursday, January 27 – Montgomery and Prince Georges Counties<o:p></o:p></p><p><o:p> </o:p></p><h2><span style='font-weight:normal'>6. Zoom Call In Information for Issues Training Meeting<o:p></o:p></span></h2><p><o:p> </o:p></p><p>Ronza Othman is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.<o:p></o:p></p><p><o:p> </o:p></p><p><o:p> </o:p></p><p>Join Zoom Meeting<o:p></o:p></p><p>https://zoom.us/j/6248138327?pwd=eTZlYUgwR3ZQVVl1dXBLSHcrbml1QT09<o:p></o:p></p><p><o:p> </o:p></p><p>Meeting ID: 624 813 8327<o:p></o:p></p><p>Passcode: 63263<o:p></o:p></p><p>One tap mobile<o:p></o:p></p><p>+13126266799,,6248138327# US (Chicago)<o:p></o:p></p><p>+16468769923,,6248138327# US (New York)<o:p></o:p></p><p><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Ronza Othman, </span></b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>President</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>National Federation of the Blind of Maryland<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>443-426-4110<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Pronouns: she, her, hers<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The National Federation of the Blind of Maryland 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.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>