[NFBV-Announce] Minutes from the May 11, 2024 Meeting of the NFB of Virginia Board of Directors

Fri Aug 2 15:06:51 UTC 2024

National Federation of the Blind of Virginia Board Meeting

May 11, 2024

President Soforenko called the meeting to order at 10 a.m. and all in
attendance introduced themselves.

Mark Roane's treasurer's report reflected all our account transactions with
the general checking account current balance as of April 30, 2024 of
$89,210.64. His report was accepted unanimously.

Sandy Halverson, our Silver BELLs coordinator, gave a brief update about our
three in-person weekends, the number of participants in each program, and
thanked staff and volunteers who continue to make this a successful program
for blind and low vision seniors throughout the Commonwealth.

Mary Durbin, who chairs our NFBV McDonald Fellowship program and serves as
liaison to Virginia Kenneth Jernigan Fund scholarship recipients provided
information about some of the first-timers who will be joining us in
Orlando. As of this date, there are five first-timers and anyone who is
interested in serving as a mentor should contact Mary. Tracy, who chairs our
national Kenneth Jernigan Fund committee thanked Mary and her committee for
their recruiting efforts and expressed appreciation to our affiliate for
continued financial support of this program.

Tracy next announced that our affiliate caucus will take place at 10 p.m. on
July 4, 2024 and that virtual experience details will be coming soon. This
year, there will be a small fee for virtual registrants. Banquet parties
were encouraged for those attending virtually since some banquet party
drop-ins will occur throughout the evening.

After some discussion of the need for door prizes, it was moved, seconded
and passed unanimously that the NFBV would provide six $50 door prizes for a
total of $300.00.

Louise Walch was not able to be present so her BELL report was read in which
she commended DBVI promotional efforts and parent outreach. We are sure this
will be another success and offer exciting opportunities for our blind and
low vision kids. It was also fun to learn that one of our prior BELL
participants will be attending our national convention in Orlando.

Tim Schmidt-Eisenlohr, president of our Virginia parents of blind children
division, told us there have been some virtual meet and greet events to not
only identify families with blind children but to determine what is needed
from our parents division. On Monday, May 13, there will be a virtual
meeting to discuss transition needs of blind students. His research has
indicated there are 2,000 families in Virginia with blind children and he is
hoping to engage more parents in our work and also working with our national
organization of parents of blind children to strengthen and support our
efforts. 

Tracy next described the ways in which our membership committee is key to
the work we do. He introduced Jacki Bruce, our committee chair stating that
the leadership activities which would take place following the board meeting
were driven by this committee as we come together to learn, grow, and lead.
Jacki thanked her committee members, many of whom were on the train from
northern Virginia, but told us work is being done to get all contacts and
data into our database. Members have been called and we were pleased to
learn we have almost 600 members in our affiliate. The committee is learning
what has been going well, some of the challenges, and the program today is
the first of many training sessions to be presented in the future. If you
have not been contacted yet, you will be soon not only to update your
contact information but to discuss how you can  help us and how we can help
you with challenges you may be facing. She described our membership coins
and encouraged us to always have them with us. Increased member involvement
may result in additional projects we can do as an affiliate.

Our attention next turned to our NFBV James F. Nelson scholarship. Tracy
stated our national scholarship program receives between 600 to 700
applications.  Our NFBV scholarship chair, Jimmy Morris, interviews Virginia
applicants on Tracy's behalf.  Jimmy promotes  our national scholarship
program, interviews for the  national program, and introduces the students
to our statewide scholarship program. Three $2500 scholarships will be
awarded at our upcoming state convention and the application form will go
live later this month with details coming soon.

Our legislative update was provided by Stewart Prost. Our Accessible
Prescription Act was signed into law on April 28, 2024 resulting from our
Richmond seminar and other forms of collective impact on the health of our
blind and low vision population. Those who provided personal testimony were
thanked. The Board of Pharmacy (or pharmacists) will adopt regulations by
December 31, 2024. We are reviewing regulations from other states to ensure
adoption of strong regulations in the Commonwealth. With regard to our
technology bill, city, county and state of Virginia website and software
developers were opposed so this issue has been referred to a study which we
will be monitoring closely to ensure Virginia entities comply with new
regulations and we will be participating in that study. We are also seeking
someone with technical support and website accessibility expertise. We will
also be looking into the question of electronic ballot return. Delegate
Patrick Hope attended our recent Potomac Chapter meeting and suggested a
study be done about electronic ballot return to determine how it should work
and we recognize this is not something we can accomplish alone. This will be
a long-term, coordinated effort and support between overseas voters,
military voter support, and the NFB of Virginia will be required to secure
passage. 

Uricka Harrison stated we are seeking new ideas for chapter involvement in
their communities and increasing our social media presence. 

Renee Valdez proposed several items to be sold at our national convention. 
Based on feedback, a phone wallet with a lanyard will be sold along with our
coin holders. Tracy then discussed our national funds: White Cane, Kenneth
Jernigan, Jacobus tenBroke, and SUN Fund, along with NFB camp and asked
chapter delegates for their chapter pledges . 
The final Project Rise gathering will take place the weekend of May 16-18
at our the NFB Jernigan Institute in Baltimore.
We do not yet have a location for our 2025 state convention. More details
will be given at the August board meeting. 
President Riccobono was invited to, and attended, the annual meeting of
Virginia's blind vendors. We then heard from both our student and senior
divisions, including that one of our students will be attending the
Louisiana Center for the Blind. 
The Tidewater and Peninsula chapters are co-hosting our state convention in
Portsmouth which will take place from October 31 through November 3. Please
start thinking about agenda topics. 
It was moved, seconded, and carried unanimously that the updated Fairfax
chapter constitution be adopted. 

The Whistleblower, Conflict of Interest, Records Retention, and Youth
Protection policies were readopted. 
It was moved, seconded, and carried that the meeting adjourn at just after
noon.
Respectfully submitted,
Sandy Halverson and Christine Faltz Grassman

Peace,

Jacki Bruce

Corresponding Secretary NFBV

mailto:jackibruce6 at gmail.com

tel:(757)291-1789

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STRONGER TOGETHER!

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