[NFBV-Announce] Happy New Year and Zoom!

Mon Jan 3 02:36:30 UTC 2022

Hey NFB Family and Friends,

Happy New Year! I  hope everyone had a  phenomenal Holiday Season. I  hope
this year is everyone's best year yet.  Please read on for important
information about our Affiliate goings on.

Kudos Corner.

My Experience of Being a Member of the National Federation of the Blind

by Chris Walker

>From the Editor: Chris Walker is an active member in our Virginia affiliate.
He comes to the Federation at a later date than some of our contributors,
having gone blind in late 2009. A little research by talking with his fellow
Virginians tells us he is the chapter president in Winchester, and in a very
admiring voice one member said, "The thing I love about Chris is that he is
such a nice guy." I admire people who are so kind that they rate the title
"nice," and I can't wait to meet him. Here is what he writes:

To help explain my motivation and commitment to the NFB, I would like to
provide some of my personal background. During the last two months of 2009 I
went from being a sighted person to being completely blind from Acute
Retinal Necrosis (ARN). In December 2009, when I was discharged from the
hospital after going blind at age forty-four, I was given a normal,
supportive, walking cane and sent on my way into a sighted world with no
information on what to do next. During the next six months I received blind
services in Las Vegas, developed orientation and mobility skills, and began
to learn the blindness skills needed to become an independent person.

My partner and I decided to move back to Northern Virginia to be closer to
our families. Shortly after the move my partner passed away suddenly. I knew
from that point that I needed to be independent and self-supporting. I also
knew that once I got my life back together, I wanted to be able to be there
for the next person who lost his/her vision.

I began the next phase of gaining my independence by moving from my family's
home in Warrenton to the city of Winchester, Virginia, where I rented a room
from a recent acquaintance. Once settled, I began looking for an
organization that would be able to guide me through this new life. I tried
to find local organizations around Winchester that could help assist me on
this journey. One day as I walked around town with my friends, we met a
blind couple who suggested I visit the National Federation of the Blind
website. I went home and joined the NFB that night. As I learned more about
the NFB, I found the Virginia affiliate's at-large group and attended
several of that group's monthly conference calls. I later discovered there
was a local Winchester chapter of the NFB, and I have been an active member
of the chapter since joining in 2015. While attending my second chapter
meeting, I expressed a desire to set up an information booth at a local
community's Fourth of July celebration. I was immediately nominated and
elected as the outreach chair for the Winchester Chapter of the NFB. After
joining the local chapter I realized that being a member of the NFB was what
you made it. The more I put into the organization the more I got back. 

In the summer of 2015, I listened to the NFB national convention through the
internet and social media simulcasts. That fall I attended my first state
affiliate convention and was asked to join the Virginia affiliate's
Leadership Fellows Program, which gave me the opportunity to begin learning
about the different operational areas of the national organization and the
state affiliate. The next year I attended my first NFB national convention
and was inspired by the thousands of attendees not letting blindness be
their defining characteristic.

As an active member of the NFB, I have been provided with many opportunities
to become involved at the local and state levels of the organization. The
NFB has helped me to grow personally and professionally. I have been
involved with all sorts of fun recreational events from climbing a
thirty-foot rock climbing wall to judging a chili cook-off event. I have
also attended fun learning events like "Connecting the Dots, the Federation
Philosophy." The NFB has also provided me with opportunities to become a
more confident public speaker by inviting me to be a guest speaker at other
Virginia chapter meetings and by encouraging me to speak to the Lions Club,
Kiwanis Club, and other local service organizations.

I have learned the importance of advocating for the rights of the blind by
contacting the local voter registrar about issues that the members of the
Winchester chapter were experiencing while trying to vote. Through my
efforts the training for the local poll workers changed from "telling a
visually impaired person to have someone help them vote" to the poll workers
being trained on how to use the ADA-compliant voting devices and how to
instruct people on the procedures for voting with the device. I was also
invited to the poll worker training sessions to describe my experiences and
to discuss proper etiquette when working with the blind/visually impaired. 

I am not saying that being a member of the NFB has always been a walk in the
park-it's just like life: there are ups, and there are downs. But I have
found, when I focus on my natural gifts-which have a special place in my
heart-there are many more ups than downs. My natural gift is volunteering to
provide outreach to the blind/visually impaired who have not found the
support of the National Federation of the Blind.

I have been very involved with social media, and I am a member of many
blind/visually impaired discussion groups and chat rooms. Through my social
media presence I have stayed on top of what's going on at the national,
state, and local levels across the United States. By being part of the
heartbeat of the National Federation of the Blind, we can encourage and
challenge each other to serve in many different capacities, to give back to
others, and to serve in our local community. We can all help to console,
empathize, support, and educate people about our experiences with being
blind and how the NFB has helped us to embody the axiom, "You can live the
life you want; blindness is not what holds you back. The National Federation
of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you
or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because
low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams." 

Spotlight On.

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

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.

we encourage you to participate in Democracy In Action.

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

Do you love braille or have you just been curious about braille?  Mark your
calendars!  Every Tuesday at 7 PM eastern on the NFBV affiliate zoom channel
is a gathering of fellow UEB enthusiasts either looking to brush up on their
braille skills or help others on their our path to Braille Literacy from all
around the globe.  We look forward to meeting you and anyone else to make
some new Braille Buddies.  If you know of other braille groups, come and
tell us about them too.  The more the merrier!  Hope to hear a few new
voices this Tuesday at 7 PM eastern.

Take care,  

Tony May

Here's how to join:

Zoom Link https://zoom.us/j/8297256345?pwd=SFAyamlQNU44ZTJ6dUZNMTV4RmhCQT09

One tap mobile
 <tel:%20+13017158592,,8297256345> tel: +13017158592,,8297256345# 
Telephone Dial: 1 (301) 715-8592

Meeting ID: 829 725 6345# 

If needed the password is 20201940

Chapter and Division Meetings.

No Chapter or Division Meetings this week. Please join your Braille Buddies
on Tuesday starting at 7  PM. Check back next week for all scheduled
meetings this month and the new format.

The new year stands before us like a  chapter in a  book waiting to be
written. We can help write that story by setting goals. - Melody Beattie

Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering it will be
happier. - Alfred Lord Tennyson

Be at war with your vices. At peace with your neighbors, and let every New
Year  find you a  better man. -Benjamin Franklin 

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year. -Ralph
Waldorf Emerson 

Your success and happiness lies in you, resolve to  keep happy and your joy
in you shall   form an invincible  host against difficulties . -Helen Keller

Smile, be kind, show love not judgement and let each day be a  fresh start
and a  new beginning. Sent with love and gratefulness  for my Federation
Family.

Peace,

Jacki Bruce

Corresponding Secretary, National Federation of the Blind of Virginia
 <mailto:jackibruce6 at gmail.com> mailto:jackibruce6 at gmail.com
 <tel:(757)291-1789> tel:(757)291-1789
 <http://www.nfb.org/> www.nfb.org
 <http://www.nfbv.org/> www.nfbv.org

Follow us on Twitter @NFBVirginia
Find us on Facebook @NationalFederationoftheBlindofVirginia

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

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