[MI-ABS] MIABS Mosaic Vol. 2.4: monthly wrap up- Feb. 22ND 2026

[Jeffery Crouch]

The MIABS Mosaic Vol. 2.4
February 22ND, 2026

Message from Treasurer Danielle Agajan
 Hello everyone! Welcome to the second installment of the Mosaic Monthly Wrap Up. I can't believe that's another month under wraps, time seems to be flying and unfortunately so does the snow. Hopefully sunnier skies and warmer weather is on its way to us, sooner rather than later. Until then, grab a warm comfy blanket and your beverage and snack of choice and let's travel back together over the last thirty days and see where we have been, are now, and are going. Let's Go!

The monthly rewind
Advocacy
 President Crouch started us off strong this month with all that is advocacy. As you probably already know, winter storm Fern was very unkind to our affiliate and therefore none of our representatives were able to attend Washington Seminar this year. However, that didn't stop Michigan, people continued to work behind the scenes to make sure the issues that needed to be addressed were and that we made it very clear our fire for equal rights and opportunities for every blind American could not be extinguished by the cold or snow. President Crouch got an exclusive behind the scenes look at what was going on during his interview with affiliate Vice President Posont. If you missed that, make sure to check it out
here.<https://youtu.be/Tlp2NDj2dIc?si=fzO7egEn8AVh8TqG>

Membership
 Next came membership with Riley Letterman. If you are not aware, with a heavy heart, Riley Letterman has stepped down as MIABS Vice President. Due to her desire to watch the student division continue to grow, prosper and do all the wonderful things we are doing and knowing that she just did not have the time or bandwidth to continue at the pace our division was moving, she made the unselfish choice to step aside and open the door for someone to come in that would be able to step in and step up. Rest assured Riley has stated she is stepping down, but not out. She will continue to take a part of our division as a member and wants to help, when she is able in any way that she can. We all thank you Riley and are happy you are sticking around to see where this division goes next. Riley had also promised the division monthly virtual events moving forward and as your board we want you to rest assured, that even though she has stepped down, we plan on continuing that promise moving forward, so keep your eyes and ears open for everything new up and coming with both membership and  virtual events!

Communications
 Next up was Secretary Steven with everything communications and tech related. On February 13th Shaun Williams and Steven Crouch had their very first episode of Tech Talk. They discussed old tech and brought back the nostalgia for all their listeners in their first episode. There was a good turn out and even had some nonNFB viewers who joined in the conversation on Kick during the live stream. Make sure you don't miss the next episode when they will be discussing PC and Phone apps and gaming. This was a direct request from the viewers and sounds like it's going to be a blast. If you aren't able to attend, remember you can always watch the Video On Demand for one week after the live stream here. We will also be looking at downloading the stream, so that we can make it available on our youtube channel after it expires on Kick.

Fundraising
 Finally I bring you all things fundraising and in person event related and when I tell you even though February is the shortest month of the year, you would never know it from how jam packed this month was. Obviously we still have the MIABS XOXO Have a Heart, Take a Part auction still ongoing, you can bid or donate
here.<http://www.32auctions.com/miabsxoxo>
We are getting down to the end and if you have been waiting to make a bid, I would stop sleeping on these items, before you miss your opportunity. There is still time to bid, donate and share, so let's continue this forward momentum and finish out strong. Every dollar raised goes to assisting our members get to Midwest Seminar and every dollar we make over that can be used for future conventions, seminars, and events, to meet the needs of every member, every time! During this time we also had the AHA (All Hearts Align) brunch, sponsored by MIABS, Rehabilitation Way LLC via Robert Parsons, and Kalamazoo Family Counseling and Mediation Services. We had an amazing turnout and the room was full of laughter, camaraderie, and electricity as we talked about advocacy, midwest seminar, and where we are as a division and where we are headed moving forward. Thanks to the amazing donations the student division was able to assist with transportation needs to get everyone to the event that wanted to attend. Thanks to the generosity of Rehabilitation Way and KFCMS the meeting space and all food and beverages were covered as well at no expense to our members! This was an amazing experience and we hope to have many more in the future. Thank you to all who attended and helped make this special event a reality. To those who weren't able to attend, we hope to see you at the next one!

Calendar of events

  *
Feb. 25TH, 6:30PM- Projefct Prepare
  *
Feb. 28TH, 1:00PM- Members Meeting
  *
Mar. 1ST, 6:00PM- Midwest seminar attendee Meeting
  *
Mar. 1ST, 7:00PM- TechTalk

 President Jeffery Crouch will have more meeting dates in his installment of the Mosaic on March 1St.

Connect with us
Youtube<http://youtube.com/@miabs_social>
Kick<http://kick.com/miabs-social>
Facebook<http://facebook.com/miabssocial>
Instagram<http://instagram.com/miabs_social>
Tiktok<http://tiktok.com/@miabs_social>
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Mastodon<http://mastodon.social/@miabs_social>
Blog<http://miabssocial.wordpress.com>

In conclusion
 Well that's it, another month under wraps and more exciting things in the near future. The student division will be sending thirteen representatives in March to the Midwest Seminar the weekend of March 13th - March 15th, so we will be taking that weekend off from meetings, committees, events and the mosaic to focus on the event. Rumor has it Michigan has the strongest turnout for this event, so let's go make our state proud! Make sure to stay in the know, because we will resume with our regular scheduling as soon as we return. Until then stay warm and excited for what's to come next and if we are able, we will try to bring you some live streaming content from the seminar. As always, it has been our pleasure to serve you this month and I think it has been a huge success, here's to an even greater month in March!



The National Federation of the Blind advances the lives of its members and all blind people in the United States. We know 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. Our collective power, determination, and diversity achieve the aspirations of all blind people.

Sincerely,
Danielle Agajan
Treasurer: Michigan Association of Blind Students
Fundraising Chair: Michigan Association of Blind Students