[Nebraska-Senior-Blind] Nebraska Senior Division May Meeting - Monday the 11th - NFB Krafters Division Presents

Tue May 12 02:13:12 UTC 2020

Glad to know that you guys are doing fine. I know all about forgetting
about meetings, ha ha! I have done that myself. I am glad you are happy
with your new furniture. I will be anxious to see it sometime. Will talk to
you soon.

On Mon, May 11, 2020 at 9:06 PM Barbara Loos via Nebraska-Senior-Blind <
nebraska-senior-blind at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Hi everyone:
>
> Brad and I are doing fine, except that we forgot about tonight’s meeting.
> We were in a conversation with our grandson Jameson until just before our
> zoom evening prayer time and didn’t think about the meeting until we heard
> from both Nancy Oltman and Chris Boone. Sorry we missed it and hope we will
> be there next month.
>
> We didn’t get to brag about our new dining room table, chairs and bench
> that arrived today. Guess we will do that next month, too.
>
> Hope everyone is well. sorry we missed Tammy‘s presentation.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Barbara and Brad
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On May 8, 2020, at 8:57 PM, Robert Leslie Newman via Nebraska-Senior-Blind
> <nebraska-senior-blind at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> 
>
> Note: this is one of two messages that relate to this month’s meeting;
> this is our regular meeting notice. The second message that is being sent,
> immediately after this goes, is a copy of the directions to make yourself a
> face mask, to be worn when you need to be out in public. The directions are
> well laid out; it was presented in one of the many Zoom meetings that have
> recently been out there; if you missed that call, here is your chance to
> get the instructions. The time frame of our meeting would not be conducive
> to work through the lesson. Consider this a present from the Krafters
> division.
>
>
>
> Hi You All
>
> RE: Our May meeting is this coming Monday, the 11th! We do have a special
> guest
>
> Non-members are welcome
>
>
>
> Topic: National Federation of the Blind
>
> Krafters’ Division
>
>
>
> This Division was established in 2008 by Joyce Kane and a group of
> blind/visually impaired crafters. Over the years the Division’s goal is to
> share the love of crafts with other blind/visually impaired people
> interested in learning anew craft or learning how to continue those crafts
> enjoyed before vision loss. The teachers are blind/visually impaired and
> have learned or developed techniques that allow us to continue enjoying
> crafts.
>
>
>
> Here are a few of the classes that have been taught: crochet, knitting,
> loom knitting, origami, plastic canvas, macramé bracelets, cleaning with
> essential oils, etc.
>
>
>
> Website: www.krafterskorner.org
>
> You can check here to learn about classes, our listserv and becoming a
> member($20/year).
>
>
>
> For more information you can contact
>
> Tammy Freitag, President
>
> H: 402-904-5105
>
> Email: krafters.division.president at gmail.com
>
>
>
> ***A bit about Tammy***
>
> I have dealt with vision problems all of my life but was introduced to
> crochet as a teenager. I fell in love with all of the beautiful skenes of
> yarn that my neighbor had lovingly made into Granny Squares.
>
> I remember sitting in her floor as she patiently spent time teaching me
> the basics. My Grandmother worked with me as well. Over the years I have
> made a few items but have really grown my skills now that I have retired
> and gotten involved in the NFB Krafters’ Division.
>
>
>
> In that time between learning and growing my crochet skills, I have spent
> my life teaching at Church, in Schools, at Adult Training Centers and now
> with the NFB Krafters’ Division. With a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in
> hand, I spent 17 years teaching in Special Ed classrooms. I transitioned
> into the Rehabilitation System where I taught a variety of skills from how
> to cut up a whole chicken to crossing streets. Now in retirement because of
> health issues, I continue to love learning new craft skills and sharing the
> ones I know. I became Division President in 2018.
>
>
>
> Outside of the Krafters’ Division, I spend much time working on committees
> at my church and with the 21st Century Lions Club here in Nebraska. I am
> also serving as a Board member of my local NFB chapter.
>
> Keeping busy is a welcome thing.
>
>
>
> Contents of this message:
>
> *When and how to get on the call
>
> *Agenda; Minutes and Treasurer’s reports; March and April
>
> *The NFB Pledge
>
>
>
> *#1 When and How to Get On the Call:
>
> Date: May 11th
>
> Time: 6:00 Mountain; 7:00 Central
>
> Phone#: 1-712-451-0011
>
> Access Code: 345154Pound
>
>
>
> *#2 Agenda:
>
> -First- Come to order, introductions, say our NFB pledge
>
> -Second- Our special guest presents!
>
> third- Secretary & Treasurers Reports
>
>
>
> --OLD BUSINESS:
>
> -Membership- do make calls to past members who have not joined us during
> recent meetings. And/or think of someone new to call and invite to join us
> for this or next month’s meeting.
>
> - Update on video.
>
> -Any other old business you may bring
>
>
>
> --NEW BUSINESS:
>
> –Affiliate, and National NFB news
>
> -Anything you may bring
>
>
>
> --Finally- Brags & Drags
>
>
>
> *#3 Our NFB Pledge:
>
> I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation
> of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind;
> to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its
> constitution.
>
>
>
> **Secretary Reports:
>
>
>
> #1 March, secretary’s report:
>
>
>
> NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND OF NEBRASKA SENIOR DIVISION SECRETARY's
> REPORT
>
>
>
> Monday, March 9, 2020
>
>
>
> The NFBN Senior Division met by telephone conference Monday, March 9,
> 2020. In President Robert Newman's absence, Vice President Barbara Loos
> called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM CDT. Members present were: Vice
> President Barbara Loos, Secretary Linda Mentink, Treasurer Cheryl
> Livingston, Board Member Nancy Oltman, Christine Boone, Jo Boshart, Geralyn
> Konruff, Brad Loos, Steve Senteney, and Jerry Whitlow. Guests present were:
> Stacy Cervenka from New York and Karen Walsh from Nebraska.
>
>
>
> Stacy Cervenka, Director of Public Policy for the American Foundation for
> the Blind (AFB), was our guest speaker. AFB was founded in 1921, and they
> did a large number of things, including providing materials to
> professionals in the blindness field, producing books on tape and offering
> aids and appliances to blind people themselves. In the past five years the
> organization has done some real strategic imagining, and now they're more
> of a think tank. They focus on research that organizations can use when
> they're doing advocacy. Their primary focus areas right now are education,
> employment, older adults with vision loss, transportation and technology.
> She talked about their aging initiatives. They did an environmental scan,
> and decided that they could make the most impact in transportation and
> employment. The first big thing that they're doing is Project Visitor,
> which is a grant that was given to them by the Volkswagen Foundation.
> They're trying to learn about what transportation options are available to
> older people with vision loss and if these transportation modes are
> adequate, how people feel about them, if people feel like they're useful
> and feasible, and if they support them in living independently in their
> homes and communities. Last year they conducted several hundred online
> surveys with professionals who provide services to blind seniors. This year
> they are conducting hundreds of phone interviews with blind seniors
> themselves in urban, suburban, ex-urban, rural, and remote areas to get a
> full picture of what services they are aware of and what services
> professionals who serve them are aware of. When this is all done, they will
> be publishing the presentation in JVIB, posting it on several websites,
> such as the Volkswagen Group of America, Mobility as a Service Team,
> Engineering and Innovation California, and delivering it at a number of
> aging conferences and blindness conferences. They have learned that 86% of
> older adults are more afraid of entering a nursing home than they are of
> death because they don't want to give up their independence or their
> autonomy. Vision loss is one of the main reasons they enter nursing homes.
> AFB is now doing some transportation advocacy, mainly to change the
> paratransit regulations to allow for people to be able to make one stop of
> up to 15 minutes in duration, rather than waiting for 90 minutes to be
> picked up for their return trip. This will be introduced in the Disability
> Access to Transportation Act. They were not able to get it as a regulations
> change at this point, but as a two-year pilot program for 15 cities, five
> cities with 200,000 people or more, five cities with 200,000 people or less
> and five cities that are in very remote areas. AFB has just founded a
> blindness transportation working group of the policy teams of the NFB, ACB
> and AFB with these goals: staying out of each other's lane and not counting
> on the same donors, support each other's work and identify some areas where
> we can all pull together in the same direction.
>
>
>
> Regarding employment, they did a mapping of the disability employment
> space, all the employment programs that are geared to blind people or cross
> disabilities; they only focused on programs that people who are blind could
> apply for. They divided them into nine categories, looking for gaps, and
> noticed that there is no significant outreach to older adults who want to
> remain in the work force. They also talk a lot about the elimination of the
> homemaker goal in vocational rehabilitation, meaning that, unless a person
> has a vocational goal, they cannot get VR services. Stacy would like to
> start seeing that people over the age of 55 who don't have vocational goals
> can still receive VR services. She would like to see more funding for older
> individuals who are blind, but we need to think about alternative ways to
> fund training for older people who are blind.
>
>
>
> They are also conducting focus groups in a hospital in Huntington, West
> Virginia, with staff and sixteen blind and low vision patients. They are
> coming up with a report about what the issues are that blind people face
> when in the hospital and how blind people's access to and quality of
> medical care can be improved. Materials will be disseminated to hospitals
> about best practices and how to work with blind and low vision people. They
> are embarking on designing a research study on transportation for older
> adults with vision loss, focusing on people age 65 and up. The first phase
> will focus on gathering information about communities and the second phase
> will gather information from older people with vision loss who do not
> drive, older people who do not have vision loss, but who do not drive for
> other reasons and older people who do drive.
>
>
>
> Stacy then told us about her website, blindtravelersnetwork.org. In 2018
> she won a Holman prize from the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind and
> Visually Impaired. she wanted to create a travel website specifically for
> blind people. There are three main areas: blogs, review forms and message
> boards. She encouraged us to use it and share it with our friends.
>
>
>
> Linda recited the NFB Pledge. Robert will recite it next month.
>
>
>
> Linda read the February, 2020, Secretary's Report. It will be made a part
> of the permanent record of the organization.
>
>
>
> Steve shared that he got a new phone and earphones, and he is hearing the
> meeting much better.
>
>
>
> Cheryl read the Treasurer's Report as follows:
>
>
>
> Treasurer’s Report Senior Division
>
>
>
> Monday, March 9, 2020
>
>
>
> Beginning Balance $1164.83
>
>
>
> Expenses
>
>
>
> PAC for March $15.00
>
>
>
> Deposits none
>
>
>
> Ending Balance $1149.83
>
>
>
> Respectfully submitted,
>
>
>
> Cheryl Livingston, Treasurer
>
>
>
> Note: Gina Finnell and Jolene Boshart paid dues which will be reported in
> the April report.
>
>
>
> It will be made a part of the financial record of the organization.
>
>
>
> OLD BUSINESS. Barbara reported that they are making progress on the coffee
> video. They've been having several meetings and writing revisions, and are
> getting closer to the place where they will contact the camera guy.
>
>
>
> Linda mentioned that she's considering playing our February guest
> speaker's presentation for the Columbus Area Chapter, because five of the
> nine members are dealing with vision loss.
>
>
>
> BRAGS AND DRAGS. Barbara mentioned that it's a drag that Gina is sick and
> a drag that Robert's friend died.
>
>
>
> Jerry's drag is that her doctor said she couldn't put her second hearing
> aid back in yet. She goes back to see him in a month. Her brag is that she
> has learned to read Braille. She's been practicing with a deck of cards and
> hopes before too long to be able to sit down and play a game of cards with
> her family, which she hasn't been able to do since she lost her sight.
>
>
>
> Cheryl has fourteen more days before retiring from the Commission.
>
>
>
> Jo has not been able to play for her month at church since her brain bleed
> last August. She is playing in March, and it's going really well.
>
>
>
> Nancy asked Barbara how she's doing with her new computer. She's doing OK.
> She finds some things confusing, and she's not always sure whether it's
> JAWS 2020, Google Chrome or Windows 10 that's the issue; but she's glad she
> made the switch. Things work more quickly and her email is synced to both
> her iPhone and her computer.
>
>
>
> There was no further business, so the meeting adjourned at 8:41 PM.
>
>
>
> Respectfully submitted,
>
>
>
> Linda Mentink, Secretary
>
>
>
> #2-  April, secretary’s report:
>
>
>
> NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND OF NEBRASKA SENIOR DIVISION SECRETARY'S
> REPORT
>
>
>
> Monday, April 13, 2020
>
>
>
> The NFBN Senior Division met by telephone conference Monday, April 13,
> 2020. President Robert Newman called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM CDT.
> Members present were: President Robert Newman, Vice President Barbara Loos,
> Secretary Linda Mentink, Treasurer Cheryl Livingston, Board Member Nancy
> Oltman, Christine Boone, Gina Finnell, Geralyn Konruff, Brad Loos, Steve
> Senteney, and Jerry Whitlow. The only guest present was Karen Walsh.
>
>
>
> Robert recited the NFB Pledge, with participation from the members. He
> will recite it again next month.
>
>
>
> Robert asked Karen Walsh to tell us a little about herself. Since Karen
> didn't know anyone except Robert, we each introduced ourselves and told how
> we are coping with sheltering in place.
>
>
>
> Since our discussion was so long, we agreed that we would read and accept
> the Secretary's and Treasurer's Reports for March and April next month.
>
>
>
> Barbara had a list of upcoming NFB virtual events. Because we had been
> talking about masks earlier, she mentioned that our Colorado affiliate will
> be doing one Thursday, April 16, at 5 PM Mountain Time on learning how to
> make a mask that requires no sewing. If you do not receive the lists of
> virtual events because you do not have internet, you can call Jessica
> Beecham at 615-497-0435. The Senior call is the 22nd.
>
>
>
> BRAGS AND DRAGS. Brad said that their son Dan is a manager at Tyson Foods,
> and can't work from home. His wife made him a mask, and when he took it
> into work, his boss was so impressed that he said, "If your wife was
> willing to make a bunch of those masks for us, we'd not only buy the
> material, but we'd pay her to do it." She said to just buy the material.
>
>
>
> Linda is grateful that UPS drivers are still working. She's getting both
> Apexes repaired, because HumanWare may stop repairing them by the end of
> the summer.
>
>
>
> Chris' brag is that her sun-in-law just got a new job in Des Moines. Her
> daughter can work remotely for as long as she needs to. The drag is that
> they're no longer in Lincoln.
>
>
>
> Barbara reported that plans for the coffee video were moving forward, but
> they had to stop because of COVID-19. Jo Boshart is supposed to call Eric
> Buckwalter. Robert added that he talked to Jo. He has tried a couple times
> to reach Eric, but Eric has not called him back.
>
>
>
> There was no further business, so we adjourned at 8:49 PM.
>
>
>
> Respectfully submitted,
>
>
>
> Linda Mentink, Secretary
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>
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