[NFBF-Tampa] Minutes for Tampa Bay Chapter Meeting 20170923

Tue Oct 17 01:48:45 UTC 2017

Minutes of Tampa Bay Chapter Meeting

September 23, 2017

The meeting was held at Beef O'Brady's Restaurant and Sports Bar,  8810 N
Himes Ave Tampa, FL 33614.

The meeting was called to order at 12:08 PM by President Miranda Kilby.

First, we heard from Jenny George of CareerSource Tampa Bay.  

She said that she is at the North Florida Address. She says they have
stations set up at that location which have accessible software. They have a
database system which will build a resume for the job-seeker. 

There is a jobs database, and every job listed has a "how to apply" link.
EmployFlorida uses commercial services such as Monster and Snag-a-Job, as
well as its own listings. One can search by job title or by company. They
have workshops in various topics. 

She talked about SSI and SSDI. People with a work history and have paid
enough into Social Security can receive SSDI. The amount paid is based on a
person's work history. The maximum amount of SSI is $731.00 per month. SSDI
has a trial work period. An SSDI recipient has nine months in which they can
work and make an unlimited amount of money. If you a recipient more than the
limit for more than the nine trial work months. If the recipient gets a good
job and loses SSDI and then lose that job, he or she can go back to Social
Security and - without re-applying - he or she can get your check back. It
takes two or three months. This is called Extended Eligibility. It lasts for
36 months. After that Expedited Reinstatement takes over. He or she can
still get the check back. 

Marion Gwizdala brought up the fact that $1950.00 is the limit that can be
earned ty those who are blind. Also, self-employed recipients can earn more
after expenses. Employees can claim some expenses, too. 

Jenny said that impairment-related work expenses can be subtracted from the
person's income when figuring eligibility. 

When an SSI recipient works, it always affects the amount they receive.
Receiving SSI and working can also affect one's legibility for other
programs. There is a limit of $2,000.00 in the bank for SSI recipients. This
is not true of an ABLE account. This is a relatively new program. Not all
banks know how to set up and administer an ABLE account. 

Only income from work affects the SSDI the amount of the check. 

Chapter Vice President Gloria Mills Hicks said that she had used
EmployFlorida to try to find an employee. Her problem was that most of the
applicants made appointments and then did not keep those appointments, and
usually didn't call to cancel. They just didn't show up for the interview. 

Treasurer Dan Hicks said that the EmployFlorida website is very difficult to
use, from the employer standpoint. In the end, he helped Gloria find her
latest employee on Criag'sList. 

Janet Beyer said she has had problems logging in to the website and creating
an account. 

Jenny said that she only sees things from the customer side. She said that
job seekers can call her and give her their Social Security numbers, and she
can help them. She can refer employers to the Business Services Department. 

Paul Martinez asked about recipients that receive both SSI and SSDI. 

Jenny said that they can generate an Excel spreadsheet showing the affect of
earning various amounts. 

Vandelon Holland brought up a situation where a person was told that because
of a pension, that person could not receive SSDI.

Jenny said that is not true. She said she has heard many cases where  the
information that was given to people by Social Security was wrong. 

She said that EmployFlorida is grant funded. They have lost some funding.
They have lost 20 staff members, just recently. Still, they have a lot of
programs, one for veterans, one for people who need GEDs, one for English as
a second language. She tries to stress to everyone that when they make an
appointment, they should show up. 

Gloria asked if one could continue to work after age 66 and earn more Social
Security, until age 70. 

Jenny said that it will increase a bit, but not a lot. If one can wait until
70 to claim one's own Social Security, he or she will receive a larger
check. 

She said that one thing that can stop an SSDI check from coming is a medical
review that shows the person is no longer disabled. 

Marion Gwizdala said that he is self-employed, but still paid into the
insurance fund. He asked if those payments will increase is Social Security
at retirement. 

Miranda thanked Jenny for the fine and informative presentation. 

Miranda asked all who were present to introduce themselves. 

Treasurer Dan Hicks gave the Treasurer's Report. We have $2,524.57.

Board Member Barbara Gaw moved, seconded by Marion, that the Treasurer's
Report be approved as read. The motion passed. 

The 50/50 drawing was held. The winner was Lynn Golden, who won $21.00. 

Miranda asked for a moment of silence in honor of those who have lost their
lives in the recent hurricanes. 

Miranda said that Secretary Sherrill O'Brien is not present today. She
emailed the minutes to the chapter list. 

Motion by Board Member Barbara Gaw to accept the minutes as emailed,
seconded by Dan Hicks. The motion passed. 

Miranda said that there have been a couple of meetings of chapter members
and with members of the Suncoast Chapter, to discuss the upcoming State
Convention, which they are both cohosting. 

Friday, October 6, will be our Spirit Night at Beef O'Brady's. Fifteen per
cent of the gross proceeds for the food sold will go to the chapter. We will
have a table in the front of the restaurant with literature and information.

Marion asked if the restaurant would let us set up a sound system for the
event. 

Miranda said she would find out. She said, in the past, they have let us
shout out whatever we have needed to, but she did not know about a sound
system. 

She mentioned the event in the park on Friday, October 20. We are getting
the insurance paperwork and approval from the City of Tampa. 

The Pancake Breakfast is October 21, at Beef O'Brady's. Miranda will let us
know about tickets. We should be able to print them at home. 

Miranda said she has spoken with Ms. Pierse, an HCC professor. She asked if
she could borrow our copy of Do You Dream in Color? She wants to show it to
a psychology class. If chapter members would like to go to the class to
answer questions, that might be helpful and informative. We don't know the
date. It might be November 29. 

The chapter agreed that she can use our copy of the film. 

Marion said that if the event is on November 29, he believes that he can be
there. 

Barbara said she would like someone to go with her the last Friday of
October to Grass Roots, an event for people with disabilities. The focus of
the meeting will be technology. 

Paul said he would go with her. 

Miranda mentioned the NFBF raffle. There are no tickets left to distribute,
so she asked anyone who knows that they will not be able to sell their
tickets, to please return them to her so they can be sold. Tickets that have
been sold can be turned in with the money at the October 20 event or at the
pancake breakfast.  The drawings start on November 1. 

Dan asked Paul about posting the drawings on Youtube or as live drawings. 

Paul said he and Dan will get together later to work that out 

Miranda said that drawing results will be posted on NFB email lists. 

Paul mentioned that he has been in contact with NFB members in Puerto Rico.
He said that any help that people can give the people hit by the hurricane,
via local churches or otherwise, would be greatly appreciated. 

There followed a discussion of the damage in Puerto Rico. 

Miranda mentioned that there is help for those in Florida who were impacted
by the hurricane. For instance, those who receive food stamps will
automatically receive a 40 per cent increase in their food stamp allotment
for the month. 

Marion said that some credit companies are deferring payments for those
affected by the hurricane without charging late fees or interest. He asked
Gloria about IRS extensions. 

Gloria said that the IRS is deferring extensions through January 31, 2018.
Those who owe will still pay interest, back to April 15 for individuals and
to March 15, for corporations. 

Jeanette Torres said that she applied for a job with Spectrum. Their
application site is not accessible. 

Gloria mentioned that Spectrum does not give its business telephone
customers with disabilities free long distance. 

Vandelon Holland gave an update on activities sponsored by the Tampa
Lighthouse for the Blind.  On Friday October 13, there will be a White Cane
celebration. At 11:30 there will be a cookout followed by a White Cane Walk.
On October 7, there will be a Dining in the Dark fundraiser at the Tampa
Club. The tickets are $125.00 each. 

Marion said that the NFB opposes Dining in the Dark activities because they
portray a negative image of blindless. 

Miranda said that there will be a meetings of the Tampa Bay and Suncoast
Chapters to make plans for the convention. We are looking for a theme for
the convention. She will remind interested members about upcoming meetings. 

Jeanette Torres talked about the recent Legislation meeting. The bill signed
by Cathy Castor having to do with the ADS has no cosponsors. Several of our
chapter members went to Cathy Castor's office and met with a staffer who did
not have any knowledge of the bill. 

Dan said that Cathy Castor has a long history of working with us. 

He was surprised that she would sponsor a bill to weaken the ADA. 

Miranda called for more Old Business. 

Gloria brought up the Senior Concerns Committee. She said that members do
not have to consider themselves as seniors to participate. The committee is
for anyone who wants to see more seniors involved in the NFBF. The meetings
are held the first Thursday of the month via conference call. 

Miranda said she wanted to take a quick poll about other activities that
chapter members might be interested in taking part in as a group, besides
our monthly meeting. Examples would be going to a movie or attending a
comedy club or going bowling, or to a Broadway play at the Straz Center
(with audible description). She will put a poll out on the email list. 

Barbara asked about accessibility earphones. If they have a limited number
of headsets, could we use our own?

The consensus was, probably not. 

Marion announced version 2.0 of the NAGDU is available in the Apple App
Store and will be in the Google Play Store. 

Miranda reminded everyone to keep sharing @nfbflorida on Twitter and the
chapter page on Facebook. 

Marin asked if we are still working on a public showing of Do You Dream in
Color? 

Miranda said yes, as the film can be a great influence on teachers and blind
high school students. 

Vandelon asked if there have been any updates on HART?

Marion said the Brandon Flex has been reinstated for a year. All of the
people who were to lose their HARTPlus service because of changes in service
will be grandfathered in. They will keep their service as long as they live
where they lived when the had service. 

Miranda said that this continuation of service is primarily because of the
protests and work of the Tampa Bay Chapter of the NFBF. 

Gloria said that she saw the Kathy Eagan, CEO of HART, of a meeting and
Kathy said that the organization was not prepared for the number of
concerned people who showed up at the meetings to discuss changes. Gloria
added, because of our efforts, about one hundred HARTplus patrons will keep
their service, when they would have not done so without us. 

Marion said that he and Merry and others had met with HART officials in
Merry's office. They were told that HART would not farm their service out to
Sunshine Line. He also mentioned that Kathy Eagan had said on television
that her family was in a hurricane shelter. In reality, they were at a
timeshare in Orlando. He said we need to continue to attend meetings where
transportation is discussed and decisions are made. 

Miranda thanked everyone for taking part in the meeting. She said we did not
get everything we wanted but made a lot of progress. 

Dan said that we must keep in mind that one vote of the Hillsborough County
Commission took away our right to vote on a tax increase which would have
funded HART and other transportation projects. The polls showed that it
would have passed. We need to vote those who voted against the referendum
out of Office. 

Michael Akpewero said that is having trouble getting service from the
Florida Division of Blind services. 

Suggestions were made. Miranda said he should contact DBS. He needs to
apply. If he gets a counsellor who he feels is not working out for him, he
should call Walter Blackman, Case Advocate, in Tallahassee. 

Barbara made the motion to adjourn. Seconded by Dan. The motion passed. 

The meeting adjourned at 2:35 PM

Respectfully Submitted

Dan Hicks

Treasurer

NFBF Tampa Bay Chapter

"Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as 

 outraged as those who are."                          ― Benjamin Franklin

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbf-tampa_nfbnet.org/attachments/20171016/74eab923/attachment.html>