[Ohio-talk] update
Richard Payne
rchpay7 at gmail.com
Sun Sep 17 10:12:05 UTC 2017
Greetings NFBO, I have included a message
from the national office so please read this email to the end. We will be in
Columbus
less than forty one days from now. I know several of you are dreaming about
this year's
convention because I am. Sherri and Rachel are co-chairs of this year's
convention and
I need all of you to communicate with them about your request. They will
reach out to
you soon but be proactive and let them know you are willing to help, this is
our state
convention. I will tell you that Erick Duffy got himself hitched on
September 10
congratulations to Erick. We have been doing uber testing for a few months
and
Deanna Lewis is in charge of this so when you see her thank her for getting
the affiliate
five hundred dollars. I along with Christopher and Tim will be doing the ATM
testing and
it will bring the affiliate fifteen hundred dollars.
Several people have register for our state convention and Suzanne is
currently working
on a mask mailing in Columbus which should bring our convention to a lot of
people's
attention. I will be making the decision about the banquet mill and
entertainment after
the banquet soon so you now have my ear until that time. I sent a message to
the
chapter and division leaders to get your current list to me and Shelbi
please get this
taken care of very soon. Shelbi and I need to know who will serve on the
nominating
committee at this state convention so chapter presidents let's get ahead of
the game.
The board of directors meeting will be Monday night at 7:00 PM the call in
number is
712/775/7031 use code 240281423 This will be a busy meeting so if you wish
for
something to be considered at this meeting then email me off list yesterday.
I have
included information at the end of this email so keep reading see you at the
convention.
Until then let's go build the federation. Dream on dream on.
Dear Federationists,
This note is for those who support the work of the National Federation of
the Blind
through the Pre-Authorized Contribution (PAC) program. Please share this
with
members of your affiliate who may be current contributors to the program.
This year the NFB has implemented a new financial system to streamline our
accounting and reporting processes. This streamlining includes processing
PAC
donations through the new system. PAC donations are processed as ACH
transactions
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through traditional bank accounts and as credit card charges on MasterCard,
Visa,
Discover, and American Express. During the data transition, we found there
are over
one hundred credit card donors that we need to contact for updated card
information.
Members of our accounting team will be contacting those PAC donors
contributing by
credit card to update this information. This message is to alert
contributors that they will
receive a call from our accounting team between now and September 19 if the
information needs to be updated. They may send an email to schedule a time
to speak
via telephone.
We appreciate your continued support of the National Federation of the
Blind.
Warmest regards,
Mark A. Riccobono, President
Richard,
I am passing along a word of thanks for helping us increase awareness of the
local NFB
Newsline numbers. As you may know, Elizabeth Sammons we negotiated
additional
local numbers with the national office this year as a way to help offset the
increase in
costs we have been experiencing as we renew each year. Scott White and the
folks at
NFB national were great to help us develop a workable strategy which enabled
us to
sign on for a two year renewal rather than just one additional year.
Thanks you,
Melinda "Mindy" Duncan
Deputy Director, Bureau of Services for the Visually Impaired
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Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities
614.438.1256 office
614-506-3826 cell
Dear Division and Chapter Presidents,
Our state convention is quickly approaching. I hope you and lots of your
members will
be attending. Exhibit Hall will be open on Saturday, Oct. 28th from noon to
5pm.
Chapters and divisions that would like to reserve a table to conduct
fundraisers should
let me know no later than October 6th. I will need two things from you.
1. Who the point person will be for sales at the convention along
with
Their contact information.
2. A description of what you would like to sell.
There are no fees for chapters and divisions to have a table. Space is very
limited so
this opportunity is on a first come first serve basis. I look forward to
hearing from you
and really look forward to shopping at your table.
Warmly,
Rachel R. Kuntz
Minutes of the Meeting
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April 22, 2017
Board of Directors
National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
1. We met in the fellowship room of North Community Lutheran
Church, 114
Morse Road, Columbus, OH 43214.
2. President Richard Payne called the meeting to order at
10:04 a.m.
3. Board members Deanna Lewis and William Turner were
absent. Three
fines were assessed for board members not being clad with Federation
insignia.
4. Some guests were present. They were given an opportunity
to introduce
themselves and state whether or not they were clad with Federation insignia.
Guests
were fined if not properly clad.
5. Barbara Pierce moved the approval of the January minutes
as circulated.
Cheryl Fields seconded the motion. It passed.
6. Sherry Ruth gave the financial report. Barbara moved its
acceptance as
read. Dr. Carolyn Peters seconded the motion. It passed. Sherry R. did
answer some
questions.
7. Annette Lutz, chairperson of the fundraising committee,
gave a detailed
report. Even though the committee has held several teleconference calls,
they are
struggling to come up with solid fundraising ideas. People do not want to
sell things or
take on large projects that have the potential of falling through for a
myriad of reasons.
Joe Ruffalo, NFB-NJ president, talked with us on a call during the meeting.
He shared
several ideas that his state has successfully used. You can see the
fundraising
committee report for details. All fundraising projects take a lot of people
putting in a lot
of effort. The Wagner's candy sale fell through due to a lack of response
from the
company.
8. Annette gave a brief report on the national merchants
division. There will
be a Fly-In. This is similar to the Washington Seminar, just dealing with
Randolph
Shepard issues. The Fly-In will be May 23. A senator from Indiana wants to
commercialize the highway facilities, which would negatively affect the
blind vendors
across the country. Governor's counsels from several states are in favor of
this bill
because they think it will generate more income for the states. Ohio has
thirty-five blind
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people working highway facilities. We may be asked to write letters to our
congress
people. Annette will keep us informed.
9. BELL Academy 2017 will be held as a residential program
at OSSB. The
dates are June 25 through June 30. Heather Leiterman is the coordinator this
year.
Donations and volunteers are needed for the program. Contact either Heather
or Sheri
Albers if you are able to help.
10. Four of the BELL students placed in the first Ohio
Braille Challenge.
Congratulations are extended to these students.
11. Sarah Kelly spoke to us. She works for Opportunities for
Ohioans with
Disabilities (OOD) as program services manager for Bureau of Services for
the Visually
Impaired (BSVI). She explained that her goal is to take the agency to a
higher quality of
services provided to the consumer. Sarah has a license in orientation and
mobility. She
has a son who is blind along with having other disabilities. There are
Braille embossers
in the BSVI field offices. The Cleveland Sight Center has formatted the
forms that the
agency uses. Everything that the agency does for the consumer is related to
employment. OOD is partnering with Cleveland Sight Center to provide Braille
instruction for adults. This will include some financial assistance from
OOD. Sarah does
not know exactly what this partnership will look like. Unless a consumer
lives in
Cleveland or Cincinnati, transportation will be a large stumbling block. OOD
wants to
create direct service providers where we do not have community-provided
services. As
always, all things are contingent upon the budget. Counselors need to find
out just
where consumers are in their life walks. The counselor needs to partner with
the
consumer. Sarah would like to see a portion of the intake process to be a
Braille
assessment. She says that OOD may not be able to get a consumer fully
literate but
should get the consumer started and connected to other resources. There is
not a rule
about how much time can be spent, but the time will come to an end at some
point, and
hopefully at that point the consumer is well enough connected that he or she
can
continue the learning process independently. Sarah did not have an answer
regarding
proficiency or the amount of money that can be spent on a case.
12. Lunch was pizza from Papa Johns and beverages provided
by Capital
chapter. We were encouraged to contribute $5 toward covering the cost of the
lunch.
13. Sheri A. gave the report from the legislative committee.
This committee
holds a conference call on Monday evenings. We are preparing to hold a
Columbus
seminar with the legislature. This will be Tuesday, May 9. Four issues will
be presented.
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When the fact sheets are completed, they will be circulated on OhioTalk. Our
issues are
as follows: 1. Parents rights; 2. Updating the service animal rights bill;
3. State
Rehabilitation council; and 4. Transportation funding.
13. 1. Barbara reported briefly on the Parents' Rights bill.
Its purpose is to
protect the rights of blind parents. We need to educate people about this
and look for a
sponsor in both the House and Senate. This would prevent social workers and
lawyers
from taking children away from parents or refusing visitation on the basis
of blindness.
The ruling would have to be based on ability to parent, not the ability to
see. The burden
of proof would not be on the blind parent. Requiring support services would
not impact
parenting or visitation rights. The model bill came from Maryland. Eight
states have
already passed this type of legislation.
13. 2. Marianne Denning spoke to us regarding the service
animal bill. The
language of the Ohio version is out of date. We do not want the bill to
state specific
disabilities. The disciplinary action for offenders would be raised to a
class II
misdemeanor. A handler can be asked if the dog has been specifically trained
and what
the dog has been trained to do. The proposed bill would bring the code more
in line with
the ADA with discipline action behind it. If handlers are asked to leave a
facility, they
must be permitted to complete their business and be provided the necessary
assistance
to do so. Emotional support animals are not covered under this legislation,
but dogs in
training are covered.
13. 3. Ohio is the only state that does not have a State
Rehabilitation Council.
Ohio also does not have a working commission at this time. Representative
Tim
Schaeffer was presented with the NFB's concept of a council. The NFB model
has
members with the OOD director having a leading role but not a vote. We would
like to
have a sixteenth member added with this member being from the National
Federation of
the Blind of Ohio. Two senators are willing to sponsor the OOD version of
this bill. Our
version of the bill will be presented on May 9. The Consumer Advisory
Council will be
eliminated by the proposed bill. This action would save the state money. The
CAC could
have up to forty-four members. There are guidelines for appointing members
to the
seats of the new Council. The governor would appoint people following the
guidelines.
We would like to see the NFB-OH able to appoint the person to hold the
sixteenth seat
from its membership.
13. 4. The state can no longer tax Medicaid (MCO). As a
result a lot of money
will be lost. This will hurt public forms of transportation.
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14. Marianne Denning did an AIRA demonstration. This is a
combination of
Google Glass, cell phone, and live assistants to describe what you are
looking at.
Contact Marianne for details.
15. Our state convention will be held at the
Columbus-Worthington
DoubleTree, 175 Hutcheson Avenue, Worthington. The dates are October 27, 28,
and
29. The room rate is $89 plus tax per night. Rooms can be reserved now. The
block will
be released October 6. Registration will be available September 1.
16. Our next meeting will be held by conference call. The
date is September
18, and the time is 7:00 p.m.
17. Richard announced the sad news that Dr. Anthony Easeley
of the
Cleveland Sight Center died this morning. The NFB-OH board expresses
condolences.
18. The deadline for state scholarship applications is July
1. Currently there
are seven applicants. The application is on our website. Barbara expressed
her distress
over the fact that changes to this program have been made without the
consultation of
the board. She spoke specifically to the fact that our scholarship program
no longer
requires that a student be full-time. The national scholarship program does
have a
scholarship for a part-time student but applicants must be employed
fulltime. We want
blind students to compete on terms of equality with their sighted piers and
to have that
same expectation of themselves.
19. Announcements from chapters and divisions:
A. Sherry R. announced that Lorain county will be holding
its first
informational fair on May 13. It will be at her church.
B. On April 29 the Miami Valley chapter will be
participating in a community
fair held at Dr. Carolyn Peters's church. On May 12 they will have a table
at the Green
county fair. On May 13 they will hold their 20th spaghetti dinner.
C. The Cleveland chapter will be participating in the
Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame
walk on May 6. On May 20 the chapter will work with the mayor to explore
Public
Square. June 24 there will be a bus tour in Amish country. The bus tour will
have a cost.
20. Sherry R. moved that Ohio contribute $200 to each of the
four funds and
door prizes for a total expenditure of $1,000. Barbara seconded the motion.
It passed.
The funds are white cane, tenbroek, SUN, and Jernigan.
21. Funds raised from the Flying Pig activities will be used
for national
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convention assistance. Sherry R. moved that we have a $5,000 assistance
fund, which
would include the Flying Pig funds. Carolyn seconded the motion. It passed.
22. Ohio will have a table in the national convention
Exhibit Hall. If you attend
the convention, you should expect to work at the table. We will be selling
tumblers and
M-&-M's. We have 134 tumblers remaining.
23. The meeting adjourned at 2:36 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Shelbi Hindel
Richard Payne, President
National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
937-396-5573or 937/829/3368
Rchpay7 at gmail.com
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. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back
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