[NFBJ] NJ Chapter Meetings and Shabbat

[Andre Zelvin]

Hi, 
It's unfortunate that NFB like most of this country is kind of Christian oriented.  They generally don't have Sunday meetings because that's Christian sabbath, even though it's rarely put that wey. It's a shame for the NYC area where the population is more diverse and where there is public transit if a group wanted to have evening meetings. I just looked to see when ACB in NYC meets, which I know has many Jewish members, but apparently not halachicly observant as   it's also Saturdays. I don't particularly like going to such meetings. For some reason Blind people generally have very long meetings without breaks or minimal breaks and not even coffee or other drinks where it doesn't seem like much is accomplished. I think most of the work of the organizations goes on outside of the large meetings  and while some do use those meetings to get together with friends or go out with them afterwards, I don't think they are very conducive for meeting people if you don't already know anyone there. 
I'm wondering what it is you hope to get out of these chapter meetings and if maybe it's something you could get in different ways. 
If it's political involvement, I'd check in with the contacts given for both NFB and ACB and ask what issues they are working on locally and if something interests you, ask who's running that particular campaign and if you can get in touch. Of, as someone suggested, look for groups in other states that have virtual meetings. National issues will be the same anywhere. You might also look at the lists of special interest affiliates for both NFB and ACB, or interest groups that aren't affiliates. Most probably meet virtually and possibly through email lists or facebook groups. These will be groups for people of similar occupations, like  teachers or writers, or or by other interests, such as the guide dog users groups. Both organizations have long lists and you needn't feel compelled to stick with one organization. For example, I knew people who were ACB members who joined the NFB writer's group because it's apparently very good, while I think the ACB guide dog handlers group is larger than the NFB group and more active. 
Outside of ACB and NFB there are different sorts of ways Blind people conect. In NYC the NLS branch, Andrew Heiskell has a has a lot of local and virtual activities, many are technology related, but you'll see a variety of other activities from reading groups to origami, many held  virtually. Because of the growth and popularity of virtual meetings and classes that started because of covid, there are such programs all over the place. Like, I think the San Francisco Lighthouse has a lot of virtuall programming which is open to anyone anywhere, even though they don't promote it as such, There's a lot of good programming out of Pittsburgh and perhaps that's not unique, and I just connected with it through someone I know who lives there. 
Besides that sort of learning and discussion resource, there are activities everywhere that are essentially in-person like the tandem cycling club in NYC and I think there is a rowing group here also, and different cities will have running groups or cross-disability running through Achilles.  Many museums have some sort of program for Blind and Visually Impaired people and many are in-person tours but after covid many started including virtual options. A lot of this doesn't happen on Saturdays or has different days as options. Some of these activities are also good as places to connect with others.
Well, those are just some thoughts. There's no central place to find out about it all. You kind of have to do some searching on type of activity or place, and spend a little time doing that searching, but if you make some connections you can ask about other things. It's also worth checking out facebook groups. There's one called New York City & Tri-State Blind and Low Vision Community  which tends to be closer to NYC but it's just a small facebook group where mostly people announce things, so joining and asking what's happening in your general area might well turn up people who have that knowledge.


On 7 Nov 2023, at 7:39 am, Kristen Aronoff via NFBJ <nfbj at nfbnet.org> wrote:

Hello all!

This is something I’ve been sitting on for a while. I live in NJ and I want to join a chapter to get to know people.

But every single meeting of every chapter in the state is on Saturday. I even looked into the Philadelphia chapter (I live near Philadelphia), but it is also on Saturday. I tried to join the DeafBlind division, and it’s also a Saturday meeting. (I did email about that and I wrote an impassioned plea and they moved the time to be after Shabbat).

I’m feeling very frustrated by this. How do you folks stay connected with people in the NFB? It just feels isolating.

Kit

Sent from my iPhone
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