[nfbmi-talk] C I C Meeting, Today

Fred Wurtzel f.wurtzel at comcast.net
Thu Sep 16 06:30:04 UTC 2010


Hello,

 

It was a proud day to be a Federationist, today.  Our delegation to the C I
C did a beautiful job of advocating for a better future for all blind
people.  All of the Federation people worked together, today, to do good
things for blind people.  We knew our business, our philosophy and each
other.  We were calm, professional and effective.

 

There were 3 main issues covered today.

 

1.	Newsline - We made a motion that requested the Commission to fund
Newsline for 5 years.  This will help us in our efforts to persuade the
Commission Board and MCB Administration to support this vital service.  We
explained that this free service serves many more people than NFB members
and that is valuable to lots of people including those who don't have or use
computers.  Our statistics show that this is about two thirds of our
subscribers.  The C I C adopted our motion unanimously.  

 

2.	MCB staff training - Our president has been working with all kinds
of people to help them understand the importance and needs of MCB staff for
more and better training in blindness philosophy and practice.  Again, our
NFB team on the C I C did a great job to move this important issue forward.
The C I C, unanimously, recommended that the Commission form a very small
team of consumers, staff and, presumably, a Commissioner to begin developing
a more robust training program for new MCB staff.  Our personal experiences
and testimonies were persuasive and well-spoken.  Great job.

 

3.	There was a last-minute request from the MCB administration to
support a change in the Maintenance Policy of the agency.  Maintenance is
the service that assists clients in things like short-term housing, travel
expenses, attendance to job skills events and fairs and a myriad of other
small and large items that assist people in becoming employed.  We asked for
time to bring the proposed policy to each of the consumer conventions for
consideration and feedback.  It was evident that few or none of the C I C
members had received the proposed policy and were not prepared to decide on
this important policy item.  We did our jobs and were able to pass, again,
unanimously, a motion to defer consideration until a special meeting in
November.  Great job team!

 

I am always proud to be a Federationist and today was one of the best.
Thanks to all who give their time to make things better for all blind
people.

 

Warmest Regards,

 

 

Fred




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