By Jennifer Dunnam, President

We in the NFB of Minnesota have certainly experienced our share of both challenges and successes during 2009 thus far. It is hard to believe the year is nearly half-finished.  

For starters, our 2009 Possibilities Fair for seniors, funded in part by the grant we received from the NFB Imagination Fund, was another great success. Some 150 people attended this event on May 4 at the Ramada Inn Mall of America. They heard from Bob Gardner, who spoke most inspiringly of his journey from dependence to independence after losing his sight later in life. Attendees also had the opportunity to visit a variety of tables around the large meeting room, where they could talk to successful and well-adjusted blind people living normal lives and learn about all the resources available to them, including classes on living independently, newspapers by telephone, braille, talking devices, and of course, the vast resource that is the NFB. Kudos to Joyce Scanlan who led the planning and execution on our behalf, and a big thank you to all the Minnesota Federationists who helped on the day of the event. Thanks also to our partners on this event, Blindness: Learning in New Dimensions (BLIND) and State Services for the Blind. We will be following up to make sure we maintain connections with this enthusiastic group of seniors!

Soon a process of hiring a new director for Minnesota State Services for the Blind will begin. The NFB of Minnesota will be involved in that process. A new director at State Services for the Blind must have an in-depth understanding of blindness and of what it takes to be successful, and must be able to instill that understanding throughout the agency, so that no blind person in rehabilitation will be limited by low expectations from the agency that is supposed to be helping.

Problems related to staffing shortages persist at the Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library. We are continuing to work on this issue and will do what needs doing to see that the library for the blind can provide good library services to blind Minnesotans.

During this legislative session, a law was passed that will, among other things, require that any technology developed or purchased by the State of Minnesota meet standards for nonvisual access such as the federal Section 508 and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. As you know, the NFB of Minnesota got the first such legislation passed over ten years ago, but that legislation was only a first step. We supported this new legislation, and it should help blind people get better access to jobs and information available from the State of Minnesota. We will, of course, be working to ensure that the implementation happens as intended.

As always, a delegation of Minnesotans will be attending our national convention in Detroit. This year the convention is a day shorter and is on a different schedule, with the banquet as the final event of the convention. We look forward to the work and fun of our exciting and informative national convention.

Six Minnesota teens will participate in the 2009 Youth Slam at the end of July in Baltimore. They will be among the 200 youth who will have a chance to get the kind of hands-on experience with science, technology, engineering and math activities—infused with the NFB's positive philosophy of blindness and vast network of role models—that is simply not available anywhere else.

BLIND Inc. is bustling with activity, practically bursting at the seams with people of all ages learning the truth about blindness. The buddy program for children will be starting up again, and more classes for senior citizens. Many teens will also be participating in the life 101 program this summer, and the comprehensive adult adjustment-to-blindness program is going strong.

It is time to begin working on the 28th annual NFB of Minnesota Move-a-thon. The event will be held in the Twin Cities again this year, and again we will walk around the lakes. This is the NFB of Minnesota's largest (and some say most fun) fund-raiser, supporting the work we do to help blind people of all ages. The date is September 12, so mark your calendars, start getting those contributions, and plan to be there to move around the lakes or work a checkpoint!

By the end of May, sales of the NFB Louis Braille Coin have topped 160,000. Support braille literacy programs by getting yours at the U.S. Mint Website at www.usmint.gov or call 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468).

We are doing a lot of work in the NFB of Minnesota to spread the truth about blindness and to improve opportunities for blind people. Yet, there is always more to do and more hands needed to get it done. If there are places you'd like to get more involved, please don't be shy—we need you!