[NFBMI-Talk] The MIABS Mosaic Vol. 5.1- May 3RD, 2026

[Jeffery Crouch]

The MIABS Mosaic Vol. 5.1
May 3RD, 2026

Message from President Crouch
  Greetings all and welcome to the month of May. If you are in post secondary or higher education, congrats on making it through another semester! You are one step closer to graduating. For those who graduated, a huge congrats! For those who are in high school, your almost there! Another month to go!
  Our division has a lot of things going on. We are excited to reveal what's in store for the month of May. We had a very productive business meeting yesterday. We are very excited to welcome two new members to our division and the federation as a whole. So, the next time you see Kaydence or Ciara, be sure to give them a warm welcome to the federation.
  If you have something you would like to see in our Mosaics or if you have any feedback, please email miabs-president at outlook.com

Advocacy
  Back in March, the advocacy committee gathered to discuss advocacy issues that we could tackle. A common theme of improving disability services for students who are blind came up. As we have some members who either attend or use to attend Wane County Community College and described their experiences, it became apparent that it would be helpful to initiate a dialog with the college to see how MIABS could help improve the services they provide. In April, the board voted to move forward with this advocacy initiative. After the spring break for WCCC, I reached out via email to the head of the department and as of this email, we have yet to receive any type of response from the college. We agreed that we would reach out again in a good faith effort to begin a dialog.
  The advocacy committee decided to take an alternitive approach as well. We will be creating an advocacy tool kit which will provide perspective students starting college in the fall or students in high school with tips, testimonials and guidance for advocating for themselves, and the accommodations they need. Join us on Thursday May 14TH, at 6:30P.M. on the student zoom line to hear if there have been any updates for WCCC and to help us begin to build this amazing resource for all of our students.

Announcements
The MIABS Dipp'd Candy Fundraiser
  If you have not had a chance yet to order from our MIABS Dipp'd Candy fundraiser, please consider supporting the division and get some of these out of this world caramel apples. If you know Treasurer Agajan, she isn't a sweets person. However, these are the best caramel apples she has ever had. You can check out her reaction as well as Secretary Steven Crouch and myself as we try these apples for the first time on our social media pages. If you have a furry four legged friend who loves the t word, Dipp'd Candies offers dog treats that will be sure to make your pup grin from ear to ear. This fundraiser ends May 24TH, so check out the full offerings and make an order by visiting our
Fundraising page.<https://fundraising.dippdcandy.com/?p=2271>

The MIABS Accessible Flee Market
  We are excited to announce the MIABS Accessible Flee Market will be coming soon. This is our fundraising initiative for the month of May to raise awareness about global accessibility Awareness Day.
  Our division members will be offering their talents and skills to members of the federation and outside of the federation. You will be able to purchase the product or service and the money that you pay will go directly back to the division to support programming, in person and virtual events. Please keep an eye out so that way you can take advantage of these amazing products and services that our division members will be offering. If you are a division member, we highly encourage you to sign up to offer a product or service, please fill out
this short form<https://forms.gle/sBEZroXieBqASJht8>
To begin.

Calendar of Events
  If you would like to join any of our committee meetings or events, please use the student zoom link below.
Link to join the student zoom room<https://us06web.zoom.us/j/5368095926?pwd=04Tsi6F1xvcxP0iVL3hy0otQeVFQVn.1>


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May 6TH, 6:30PM- Membership committee
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May 8TH, 6:30PM- Double Feature Friday Virtual Event
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May 10TH, 2:00PM- Fundraising and Incentive Program Committee
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May 14TH, 6:30PM- Advocacy and advocacy tool kit Committee
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May 19TH, 6:00PM- Communications, Unseen Media and TechTalk Committee
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May 23RD, 10:00AM- State Affiliate Business Meeting
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May 25TH, 6:30PM- Events Committee
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May 26TH, 7:00PM- TechTalk Live
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May 30TH, 1:00PM- Members Meeting
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May 30TH, 6:30PM- UnseenMedia Live
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May 31St, 6:00PM- Project Prepare Committee
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June 6TH, 3:30PM- MIABS Business Meeting on affiliate zoom line

Connect With Us
Youtube<http://youtube.com/@miabs_social>
Kick<http://kick.com/miabs-social>
Facebook<http://facebook.com/miabssocial>
Instagram<http://instagram.com/miabs_social>
Tiktok<http://tiktok.com/@miabs_social>
X<http://x.com/@miabs_social>
Mastodon<http://mastodon.social/@miabs_social>
Blog<http://miabssocial.wordpress.com>

In Conclusion
  Thank you for reading this weeks Mosaic. We appreciate that you all are finding this to be a great resource for keeping up with what is going on with MIABS. Please keep your eyes pealed for Vice President Kashonia Grahams first installment of the Mosaic. Enjoy your week and remember to take care of yourselves.
Let's go and build the federation!

      
The National Federation of the Blind advances the lives of its members and all blind people in the United States. We know 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. Our collective power, determination, and diversity achieve the aspirations of all blind people.

Sincerely,
Jeffery Crouch
President: Michigan Association of Blind Students