[Ohio-talk] Buckeye Update

[Deborah Kendrick]

Eric and Shelbi, 
Great update, and great minutes.  
I saw a few tiny typos.  The phone number in #13 has a few numbers out of
order.  At least twice, Newsline is called Newsliner.  I suspect this was
due to attempting to att the registered trademark symbol.  There's a key
combination for that on the keyboard which escapes me at the moment.  
Again, great job!
Deborah

-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Eric
Duffy
Sent: Friday, February 01, 2013 12:44 PM
To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
Subject: [Ohio-talk] Buckeye Update

National Federation of the Blind of Ohio Buckeye Update, February 1, 2013


	Tomorrow is Ground Hog's Day, and I'm afraid the news will be bad.
In other words old Punxsutawney Phil is going to see his shadow, and we will
have six more weeks of winter.
	On Monday of this week Shelbi, Carol Akers, Debbie Baker, and I met
with the superintendent, and the new principal of the Ohio State School for
the Blind. We are trying to do some outreach and relationship building with
the school. I think it was a positive and productive meeting, but only time
will tell.
	Debbie and I spent much of Tuesday reading through educational
materials to assist a blind student in the Cleveland area. This is a
complicated case, so we have work left to do. 
	Barbara and I have been working on materials to be submitted to
foundations and possible funders. We have created a Vision Statement that
the board has adopted. This is not set in stone. It is a flexible document.
At the end of this update I will include our purpose, Vision, and Mission
statements. 
The Cincinnati Chapter has donated $600 to the BELL Program in memory of Bob
Eschbach. Paul and Bernie have donated $50 in memory of Bob.
	Scrip orders are due by 7:00 PM., on Sunday, February 3. This week
Sherry Ruth has signed up for PrestoPay, Suzanne Turner is a new sign up,
and so is Karen Whalen. We must grow this program while we pursue other
funding opportunities.
	I am including the minutes from the January 19 Board of Directors
meeting. I appreciate the work that Shelbi and Barbara did to get them done
for us.
The Washington Seminar is upon us. I will be leaving for Baltimore tomorrow.
The day after I get home I will meet with Kevin Miller and Matt Mumma from
RSC.
	It is a busy time for us right now, but that's a good thing. Enjoy
the weekend, and do something good to build our organization.


Minutes
Board of Directors Meeting
National Federation of the Blind of Ohio January 19, 2013

1. President Eric Duffy called the meeting to order at 10-00 a.m. This
meeting was held via teleconference, (605) 475-4875 access code 201909#. He
reminded us that *6 toggles between mute and unmute. 

2. All members of the board were present although Barb Fohl joined late.
Others were present on the call, but a count was not taken. 

3. Eric read the constitution of the National Federation of the Blind of
Ohio article by article, discussing each in turn. In response to a question
Barbara Pierce reminded the board that the NFB passed a resolution saying
that the NFB is opposed to people first language. Dr. Jernigan wrote an
article for the Monitor that articulates this position very nicely. The
board discussed reducing the size of the board by two members: the second
vice president and one at-large member. With Barbara's assistance, Eric
charged the constitution committee to write this amendment and to bring the
rest of the document into compliance with current standards of
capitalization and communication. The motion to reduce the size of our board
was made by Barbra with the understanding that the amendment would be
presented at the 2013 state convention, voted on at that convention and take
effect with the 2014 election. Susan Day seconded the motion, and it passed.


4. Deborah Kendrick moved that the December minutes be approved as
corrected. William Turner seconded the motion. It passed.

5. The treasurer's report was read by Shelbi Hindel. Barbara moved this
report be accepted as read. Crystal McClain seconded the motion. There was
discussion with Sherry Ruth answering questions. The motion passed. Eric
reminded us that, though the report is not secret, it should not be
circulated outside our membership.


6. Eric pointed out that we do not have money to contribute to national
convention assistance this year. Sherry Ruth explained that the money we do
have is allocated to other programs. Eric said we can revisit this topic if
funds come in. Barbara reminded us that the national organization will pay
for a delegate from each state to attend, so Ohio will apply for this
assistance. If we do this, it would not be proper for us to provide
assistance to other people. The Jernigan Fund helps first-time attendees to
get to the national convention. Several people commented that in the past
some members have helped get new people to the convention with the idea that
they would pay it forward when they could do so. 

7. Each year the state affiliate has Jernigan tickets to sell. These are
distributed to chapters and then to individuals. These need to be sold and
the money gotten back to Sherry. If members do not sell the tickets, they
need to be returned to her. The state affiliate is not able to absorb this
expense. This issue will be discussed again at the spring board meeting. 

8. Ohio has been approved to conduct a Braille Enrichment for Literacy and
Learning (BELL) Program in the summer of 2013. The expenses of this program
will run between $3,000 and $6,000. For the purpose of fund raising it is
better for us to err on the side of caution and raise more money than is
actually needed. The starting date for our BELL program will be July 15 and
it will run for two weeks. It will be held in Columbus at a school building
that is on Glenmont Avenue. Debbie Baker will be our certified Braille
teacher. She and Eric will be attending a training seminar in Baltimore near
the end of February in preparation for the BELL Program. Developmental
Disability Council will contribute $2,000 toward this. Deborah wrote a
letter that can be used for requesting donations. In future summers we would
like to conduct BELL Programs in other cities around the state. If we
receive more funds than are needed for this summer's program, they will be
held and designated for BELL. Springfield chapter has designated the sale of
its Christmas ornaments for BELL. This year the Parents Division will
contribute the proceeds from its Gourmet Food Basket tickets to BELL.

9. Ohio will have a table in the exhibit hall at the national convention
this year. Mark and Crystal McClain have agreed to coordinate the work
schedule for the table. Everyone attending should plan to work. Any chapter
or division wanting merchandise at this table needs to get the information
to Crystal as soon as possible. Crystal thinks the affiliate should conduct
a drawing for a technology item. She will gather information and present it
at the spring board meeting. 

10. Eric reminded us to be careful and conscientious about what we post to
the Ohio listserv. Remember that it is a public domain, and we don't want
private or very personal information taking up people's time. 

11. Braille literacy week started January 4, Louis Braille's birthday. A
sample proclamation was sent out in November so that chapters could work on
getting proclamations from either a city or county. Lorain County and Miami
Valley did get proclamations. Congratulations! 

12. The state president gets a list of those people who receive free white
canes from the program sponsored by the National Center. It gives name,
phone number, email, address, cane size, membership status, and whether or
not the person is a Braille reader. Eric would like to have some people
volunteer to make follow-up calls with the people on this list to give them
encouragement, information, or assistance. If you are interested, let Eric
know via email. He will provide some training for those volunteering. Any
blind person can order a cane every six months. It is a straight fiberglass
cane. 

13. The NFB-O phone line that J.W. Smith had was discontinued in November.
Eric has a different phone line. The number is (614) 935-6569. He is looking
for people to volunteer to answer this phone line so that callers can speak
to a live person as much as possible. He would use call forwarding to
accomplish this. People answering the phone need to be knowledgeable about
NFB philosophy, services available in Ohio, and resources in the NFB and be
able to provide feedback about the type of calls and how these have been
dealt with. Email Eric if you are interested. Some training will be
provided. The shortest phone-answering shift would be eight hours. Currently
this line is getting ten to fifteen calls a week. 

14. The Washington Seminar is February 4-6. The fact sheets have been sent
out on Ohio Talk. Ohio has a good group going to Washington. People came
through with finding support. We have three topics again this year: 1. HR164
equal Access to Air Travel for Service-Disabled Veterans, 2. Technology,
Education, accessibility in College and Higher Education (TEACH), and 3. the
Fair Wages for People with Disabilities Act. 

15. A motion was made, at our December board meeting, instructing Eric to
gather more information on holding the state convention in Columbus and
report back to the board. He reported that the Ramada is prepared to give us
a room rate of $75 per night for the next two years. This year the
convention dates would be November 15 to 17, which is a bit later than we
are accustomed to. In 2014 the hotel is prepared to have us the first
weekend in November. Barbara moved that for the next two years we hold our
conventions in Columbus at the Ramada. Susan Day seconded the motion. After
some discussion it failed. Crystal moved to have Eric look into options for
holding the 2014 convention in Columbus at some other hotel. Sherry Ruth
seconded this motion, and it passed. 

16. The Buckeye Bulletin is a strong, well-put-together newsletter that
contains information and issues significant to blind people. But it is very
expensive to produce on CD and in hardcopy print. Other groups and state
agencies have stopped distributing their newsletters in print and just post
them online. If we stop printing and recording the Buckeye Bulletin, we
would post it on our website, Ohio Talk, and NEWSLINER. Sylvia is no longer
available to do the print layout. Barbara could put together a no-frills
print edition. Sherry Ruth moved that we just have an electronic version of
the Buckeye Bulletin. Crystal seconded the motion. It passed. Deborah has
access to a recording facility at CABVI and volunteered to produce a
recording that can be put on our website and downloaded as an MP3 file. Her
offer was gratefully accepted.

17. Shelbi gave a brief report on NFB Scrip Ohio. This fundraising program
needs to grow both within our membership and outside of our own members. It
is currently our only potentially significant source of income. Eric and
Carol Akers are willing to assist people in signing up and ordering. 

18. Eric wants to put together conference calls for chapter and division
presidents. These would help build membership and make meetings interesting
so that members will attend, etc. Enough people expressed interest so that
he will move forward with this project. Look for an email with more
information.

19. Eric asked several board members to work with divisions. Eric is working
with the merchants division. Debbie is working with the Parents of Blind
Children Division. Deborah is working with the Students Division. 

20. Debbie reported that she has not been hearing from those teaching
Braille. Some of the Braille alphabet cards have errors on them, so check
the cards before handing them out. The Independence Market is aware of this
defect. 

21. We need to work on a marketing campaign for NEWSLINER in Ohio. Scott
White, who coordinates the NEWSLINE service in Baltimore, wants to see the
plan we put together. This is not a problem for the affiliate. Eric asked
the publicity and promotion committee to start working on a plan that would
market NEWSLINE and also provide information about our organization. 

22. Carol reported that the Parents Division has been holding a drawing for
a gourmet food basket for approximately thirty years. It will be held again
this spring. The proceeds from the sales of drawing tickets will be
contributed to BELL. Tickets will be sent to chapter presidents for
distribution. The cost is six for $5 or $1 each. An article about this
project will be put in our newsletter, the Buckeye Bulletin. 

23. The affiliate can not pay for the spring board meeting. If we hold the
meeting in person, everyone would need to fully pay their own way. Richard
Payne moved that this meeting be held via teleconference call. William
Turner seconded this motion. It passed. The meeting will be held on April
20, 2013 and will start promptly at 10 a.m. 

24. The meeting adjourned at 2:33 p.m. 

Respectfully submitted,
Shelbi Hindel, Secretary
 


The purpose of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio is to serve as a
vehicle for collective action for the blind of the state; to function as a
mechanism through which the blind and interested sighted people can come
together in local and state  wide meetings to plan and carry out programs to
improve the quality of life for the blind; to provide a means of collective
action for parents of blind children; to promote the vocational, cultural,
and social advancement of the blind; to achieve the integration of the blind
into society on a basis of equality with the sighted; to take other action
which will improve the overall condition and standard of living of the
blind; to act as the Ohio affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind;
and to support the National Federation of the Blind financially to the
greatest extent possible.


Vision Statement

The NFB of Ohio strives to become a vigorous and stable force for effective
rehabilitation and equal access for the blind of the state.

Since losing our funding base in the economic downturn of 2008, our most
pressing goal is establishing economic viability so that our blind
volunteers have the funds to carry out their advocacy and training efforts.
We would also like to establish an endowed fund, the proceeds of which could
finance scholarships for blind students to cover their additional expenses
for accessible technology and other blindness-connected costs. Eventually we
hope to establish an adult rehabilitation center to provide Ohioans truly
effective training in the skills of blindness. The Ohio Bureau of Services
for the Visually Impaired has been pleading with us to do this for years. 

	Mission Statement

	The National Federation of the Blind, and therefore also the
National Federation of the Blind of Ohio, has a very simple mission
statement that has been in force since our beginning in 1940 and will never
change until such time as it and the organization no longer need exist at
all. It is: We are changing what it means to be blind.

	Until everyone, blind and sighted alike, understands that blindness
need not be a tragedy, until no one uses blindness as an excuse for not
trying to succeed or not giving a person a chance, until we all expect blind
people to take their place in the community as fully contributing, fully
participating members of society, the National Federation of the Blind's
mission will be to bring these dreams to reality.