[Ohio-talk] January minutes

Mon Feb 24 14:23:08 UTC 2014

Good morning, Members,

As you read in Eric's update I am sending out the minutes of our last board
meeting. They are pasted below.

Enjoy the day,

Shelbi

Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting

Of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio

January 18, 2014

                1. President Eric Duffy called the meeting to order at 10:00
a.m. It was a teleconference using number 605-475-4875 access code 201909#. 

                2. Board members Richard Payne and Crystal McClain were not
able to attend the call. We had 9 guests. 

                3. Bruce Peters, a board member, died on Christmas day.
People were given an opportunity to speak of their memories of Bruce. This
is a list of remarks that people made - 

Bruce started the Summit County Chapter.

He did what he could to be an active part of our movement, even when his
health was at its worst.

He was a troubleshooter, always looking for the big solution.

Bruce was a soft-spoken, genuine person, a true gentleman.

He worked to make people feel welcomed.

Some adjectives that were used to describe Bruce were--humble, honest,
supportive, thoughtful, kind, helpful, friendly, happy, and cheerful, but a
procrastinator.

Bruce was a member of the Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Church,
Christian down to the soles of his feet. He radiated joy and deep respect
for other people. We will miss Bruce. In his honor we should continue to
work and build the organization in every way possible. There will be an
article in the next Newsletter to remember and honor this man. If you have
any remarks you'd like to have included, get them to Barbara Pierce. 

                4. Eric raised the topic of the December 10 teleconference
board meeting minutes. Sherry Ruth moved that they be accepted. Barbara
seconded the motion, and it passed. 

                5. Shelbi Hindel read the financial report. It was from
September 1, 2013, through December 31, 2013. Barbara moved the report be
accepted as read. Debbie Baker seconded the motion. People were given an
opportunity to ask questions, which Sherry answered.  The motion passed.
Eric stated that this report will not be posted on the listserv, but
individuals can receive a copy in their personal in box upon request. Shelbi
and Eric did a comparison of reports from this year and 2012. NFB-O
continues to be in a financial crisis. We have got to figure out ways to
deal with this. Eric thinks very carefully before signing any vouchers.
Sherry does not write any checks without a written voucher. It is important
that we are all aware of the financial picture. 

                6. Everyone must participate in fundraising because the
responsibility belongs to each of us. Each person needs to think of anything
they can possibly do to help in this area. You do not have to be on the
fundraising committee or the board to communicate ideas. Eric invited us to
set fundraising goals. Barbara suggested setting a goal to raise $1,000 from
the Malley's Chocolate Easter campaign. We need to work to increase
participation in the NFB Scrip Ohio program. It was suggested that we have a
drawing for a cash prize this summer instead of a drawing for an iPad. This
would work out best if the prize money were to be donated. Another goal that
was set was to find a way to raise an additional $5,000. We will still need
to raise funds for programs such as BELL and the Washington Seminar. There
will come a time when the treasury doesn't have any more money if we don't
do the work to put money into it. After adding up all the individual
fundraising goals, Eric announced that the total goal for fundraising this
year is $10,000. 

                7. Barbara and her husband Bob  took a trip to Boston for
the birth of their  grandchild. Their daughter Margy gave birth to a baby
boy James Bowman Coyle on January 3. He weighed 9 pounds 4 ounces, was 21
inches long, had brown hair and blue eyes. All are doing well. In March
Barbara and Bob will be taking a trip to Malaysia to meet another grandson.
This little boy named Elango was adopted by their son Steven. He turned 4
years old in December and speaks multiple languages. 

                8. Aleeha Dudley spoke about her lawsuit against Miami
University. This would not have been possible without the support of Dr.
Maurer's commitment to improving access to education for college students.
There will be an article about this situation in the upcoming newsletter. 

                9. Eric commented that the student division has had some
very good conference call meetings. They are experiencing some growth and
forward momentum. 

                10. There will be a BELL program here in Ohio this summer.
The first weekend in January we had 3 people go to Baltimore for training in
leadership of BELL. They were Debbie, Eric and Mary Ann Denning. A lot of
information was given in a short period of time. Debbie and Mary Ann will be
co teaching. It has not yet been decided whether or not this will be a
1-week residential program or a 2-week day program. Whatever the decision
is, we know that the program will be held on the campus of the Ohio State
School for the Blind (OSSB). We will have to work to find the participants,
workers, and funds. Some states host multiple BELL programs in the summer,
but they did not start out that way. They started slowly, built upon the
philosophy, and expanded. We will continue to build upon our experience.
Just because this year the program will be in Columbus doesn't mean that it
won't be expanded to other areas at some point. We must be very careful in
doing this. This work is rewarding but very exhausting. It is difficult to
get good, positive publicity, but negative publicity is easy to come by. We
must be careful that this does not happen. There will be opportunities for
people to volunteer, and these people can and will come from around the
state. Some examples of opportunities for people to volunteer are Braille
materials, crafts, fundraising, publicity. The number of children we would
like to have in the BELL program is ten to twelve. Public  relations
materials will be available to us from the national organization sometime in
March. Rules, guidelines, and programs are handed down to the states from
the national. They want consistency in the programs. There is some room for
modification. The curriculum is aimed at elementary-aged children.

                11. The information and link for the Malley's Chocolate
fundraiser, Easter campaign, is on the NFB Ohio website. This has  slightly
different products from the Christmas campaign. Orders will start shipping
in March. You can print out product lists. 

                12. In December several of our members from around the state
toured the Cleveland Sight Center. We had a good meeting with Dr. Steve
Friedman, the CEO of the Sight Center. He has agreed to help us get in the
door of meetings between Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD)
and facility directors. These meetings are held to discuss services provided
and what makes good rehabilitation. Dr. Friedman is interested in our
perspective on what we consider to be excellent training centers. He
expressed an interest in visiting our centers and learning about their
programs. Eric said he would also talk to people from neighboring states to
gain information about their rehabilitation programs, with an emphasis on
what does and does not work. A lot can be said around a conference table,
but what counts is the follow-through. Suzanne Turner was invited to speak
with some new and some transitioning counselors about blindness. Training
materials are being developed to put into a packet for counselors. On
February 3 there will be an agency directors meeting in Columbus. 

               13. Our state affiliate usually has a table in the exhibit
hall. Mark and Crystal McClain have managed this table for a number of
years. This year they are not attending the convention. This project takes a
lot of work and time. After some discussion we decided that our affiliate
will not have a table in the exhibit hall this year because we do not have
the people to staff it nor the merchandise to sell. 

                14. The Washington Seminar will start with the Great
Gathering-In meeting on Monday, January 27th. Eric and Barbara will be going
to Baltimore on Saturday, January 25, to attend a legislative symposium to
prepare them for this activity. They will go from Baltimore to 

Washington D.C. There will be three issues to deal with; the Fair Wages for
Workers with Disabilities (H.R. 831), the Technology, Accessibility, and
Education in Collage and Higher Education Act (H.R. 3505), and the Air
Carrier Technology Accessibility Act. When the team returns from this trip,
they need to be more diligent in letting us know who they saw, what was
said, and what is needed for us to do to follow through. 

                15. Committees should get together soon by conference call
or email to set goals for what they'd like to accomplish this year. Start
working as soon as possible. The membership committee should be a greater
help and support to chapters and divisions. This committee should be able to
help plan activities in local areas as well as help with growth. Remember
that we still have significant financial constraints. The education and
legislative committees should work together to accomplish significant things
for the education of blind children in Ohio. 

                16. Elyria gave a proclamation to the Lorain County chapter
for Braille Literacy week. 

Springfield had to cancel its planned activity due to bad weather. 

                16. Constant Contact is a cloud-based system to which our
data base will be moved. This process is taking longer than anticipated, but
it will eventually be completed. Changes  to our lists will be easier to
make.  

                17. Ohio now has a listserv for NAPUB. Very few people have
signed up for it. You can sign up from the website, <http//www.nfbnet.org>.
The language can also be found in a December Buckeye Brief. The student
division also has a listserv. 

                18. On the third Tuesday of each month, starting in
February, there will be a teleconference call for chapter and division
presidents. A variety of issues will be discussed. Use conference line
605-475-4875, access code 201909#. The calls will start at 8:00 p.m. and
should be an hour in length.  

                19. The contract that NFB has with OOD for the Toledo Blade
to be on NEWSLINER will be ending in September. OOD says it will not pay for
this newspaper to be available on the service. If we want to keep it there,
we must work to find financing to do so. Attempts will be made to convince
OOD to pay for this paper to be available to NEWSLINE readers. 

                20. The parents division has sponsored a gourmet food basket
drawing in the spring for many years. Due to financial constraints for
holding board meetings in person, this drawing was changed to a gift card
drawing a year ago. The presidents of this division have informed Eric that
they do not wish to conduct the fundraiser this spring. Kaiti Shelton asked
if it would be possible for the student division to conduct the same gift
card fundraiser this spring. Eric said yes they could, and chapters and
divisions would be asked to contribute gift cards to the student division
for the drawing with the idea of student interests in mind (movies, pizza,
fast food, etc.). The drawing will be held during the spring conference call
meeting of the board of directors. Everyone should assist the student
division in selling tickets. Personal contributions of gift cards are
welcomed as well as those from chapters and divisions. Tickets will sell for
$1 each or 6 for $5. Good luck, students, and thanks for stepping up to
fundraise with this established drawing. 

21. Bob Merkel is a member of the Springfield chapter. He has given a lot of
financial support to the organization over the past several years. He owns a
piece of land in Springfield and has the idea that he'd like to have a house
built there that is accessible. Bob wants to have two or three people live
in this house, one being blind, one being in a wheelchair, and the last
could be sighted. Eventually the house would be sold in portions to the
people living in it. A non profit organization needs to take control of the
land until the house can be built and sold. Eric met with Bob and was told
that, if the board did not take this project on , Bob might need to change
his level of contributions because he'd have to find an organization that
would be willing to oversee the project, and Bob needs to see that it does
get done. We definitely appreciate what Bob has done for the NFB. Bob has
told Eric that some churches are willing to help with the physical work and
materials for the project. Eric tried to contact these churches with no
success. Our board decided that this is not a project that we want to take
on. 

                22. The next board meeting will be held on April 26, 2014.
Use conference line 605-475-4875, access code 201909#. The call will start
promptly at 10:00 a.m. 

                23. Barbara posted a message on Ohio Talk  earlier this
morning concerning Parnell Diggs, president of the NFB of South Carolina,
who is running for Attorney General of South Carolina. Please read it and
consider contributing to his campaign. 

                24. The meeting adjourned at 2:35 p.m. 

Respectfully submitted,

Shelbi Hindel, Secretary 