[NFBV-Announce] Reminder to RSVP and book hotel: Democracy In Action: Join Us at the 2022 Richmond Seminar (January 17 & 18)

Wed Dec 22 22:22:22 UTC 2021

Happy Holidays,

We hope you are enjoying this holiday season. By January 3, please remember
to do the following:

A.	Tell Stewart Prost and your chapter president if you are attending
Richmond Seminar. Please note, we need to build out teams and there will be
in person and virtual teams. 
B.	Work with your chapter president on transportation to Richmond
C.	Book your hotel room, as applicable.

All the details are below and we encourage you to participate in Democracy
In Action.

Remember, , the first action needs to happen by January 3.

***

Please join us for Richmond Seminar to ensure our voice is heard in the
Virginia General Assembly.

Whether you have attended many Richmond Seminars, or this will be your first
one, we strongly encourage you to attend and participate in representative
democracy in action. We are planning for an in-person Richmond Seminar in
January 2022 because we are hearing that the Virginia General Assembly will
be mostly allowing in-person appointments. For legislators unable to see
constituents in person, we will create a virtual team to accommodate
Federationists who want to participate in our legislative action but who may
not be able to travel to Richmond.

When: 

Monday, January 17, Martin Luther King Day. We will hold an important NFBV
Board Meeting to discuss legislative issues and get organized. On Tuesday,
January 18, we will meet with our Senators and Delegates.

How it Works: 

Please attend the NFBV Board Meeting on Monday to learn about the issues.
Plan to stay overnight at the Delta Marriott Richmond on Monday night and
enjoy an evening of conviviality with your NFBV family. You will be assigned
a team to meet with legislators on Tuesday, sharing our issues and answering
the questions of legislators and their staff. The affiliate will reimburse
transportation and hotel expenses. The National Federation of the Blind of
Virginia can reimburse these expenses through the generosity of the many
donors to the Charlie brown Memorial Fund. We are grateful for these
contributions which honor Charlie's commitment to ensuring we all have a
voice in advocacy for the rights of blind people in Virginia.

Where it All Happens: 

Our board meeting is scheduled for 1:00 PM Monday afternoon, January 17 at
the Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired Campus, 395 Azalea Avenue,
Richmond. We will meet in the Library & Resource Center (LRC). At this
writing, it is not certain if lunch will be available through the cafeteria
on the premises prior to the meeting so plan accordingly. On Monday night,
we will stay at the Delta Hotel by Marriott, 555 East Canal Street,
Richmond, VA 23219.

On Tuesday morning, we will be going to the offices of the General Assembly
in the Pocahontas Building. Our meetings are typically between 8:00 AM and
11:30 AM. Your team will likely have 10 appointments during this brief time
window. Your team leader will facilitate the process, but everyone will play
a role on the team. By Noon, we are gathering back up to return home. It is
quick, exciting, and the legislators and their staff are happy we came to
speak with them. 

We look forward to finally reconnecting in person while being mindful of and
compliant with all visiting requirements observed at Marriott properties,
the DBVI campus, and the capitol.

The Issues:

The issues we will bring to Richmond are still under consideration but will
most likely include:

- Improving the accessibility of education technology used by K-12 students

- Expanding resources for the Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision
Impaired

- creating a hiring preference for people with disabilities in local
government jobs. 

We will present the final list of issues and fact sheets at the board
meeting on Monday, January 17. 

What You Need to Do:

We have bills being drafted that will need co-sponsors. Chapter Presidents
should contact their General Assembly members in their local offices before
the end of the year. All Chapter members are encouraged to participate in
these meetings. A meeting with our elected legislators in their home
districts will go a long way in establishing the recognition that is needed
for our visit to Richmond. If you need assistance identifying your delegate,
need help in setting up a meeting, or do secure a meeting, please contact
Bonnie O'Day (my contact information is below.).

Let your chapter president know you will be attending, but also copy Stewart
Prost. Your chapter president will be helping with transportation. 

Stewart Prost is collecting all the RSVPs for Richmond Seminar and helping
to ensure we match participants with legislators. When you tell Stewart, he
will really need your mailing address to confirm your legislators.

Stewart can be reached at sprost82 at gmail.com <mailto:sprost82 at gmail.com> 

Or on his mobile at (757)572-6891.

Chapter presidents will arrange cost effective transportation for their
chapter members. Individuals are expected to share hotel rooms and must
obtain hotel reservations themselves at the NFB of Virginia rate, which is
$142 per night plus taxes. We reimburse based on having two people share a
room, so we ask you to plan for a roommate. If you need assistance finding a
roommate, please call Domonique Lawless: (615) 904-4225, no later than
Friday, December 31 to allow matches to make their reservation by the hotel
deadline of January 3. You may choose to reserve a room by yourself, but as
has always been the case, the affiliate will reimburse only 50% of the room
reservation. 

Please make your own reservation on-line at the Delta Hotels by Marriott
Richmond Downtown at
https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=163726757
4074
<https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=16372675
74074&key=GRP&app=resvlink> &key=GRP&app=resvlink.      You may make your
reservations at any time, but they must be made by January 3. If you have
problems making reservations or have any other issues with the hotel, please
contact our Operations Coordinator, Joe Orozco via email at
jsorozco at gmail.com <mailto:jsorozco at gmail.com> . A form requesting
reimbursement for transportation and your hotel stay is attached to this
email.

Chapter presidents must provide an initial list of the names of the
individuals planning to attend from their chapter to Bonnie O'Day by Monday
January 3 at 5 PM and additional names as they are known so we can establish
and update teams in advance.

Finally, if you are interested in being a team leader, please reach out to
Bonnie O'Day directly and provide your full name, city or county of
residence, email address, and phone number. If you have any questions,
please contact Bonnie O'Day at 703 965-2501 or email her at
bonnoday at gmail.com <mailto:bonnoday at gmail.com> .

Tracy Soforenko

President, National Federation of the Blind of Virginia

202 285-4595

Tracy.soforenko at gmail.com <mailto:Tracy.soforenko at gmail.com> 

www.nfb.org <http://www.nfb.org> 

www.nfbv.org <http://www.nfbv.org> 

National Federation of the Blind. Live the Life You Want

The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends
who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation's blind. Every day we work
together to help blind people live the lives they want.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbv-announce_nfbnet.org/attachments/20211222/4726c8e9/attachment.html>