By Jennifer Dunnam

The last few months of the year 2015 have been as busy as ever for the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota.  Our 2015 annual convention in Bloomington was the best attended in recent memory and gave lively voice to the breadth and strength of the contributions from our members throughout the state.  Check out the important presentations from State Services for the Blind and the Braille and Talking Book Library and resolutions later in this issue.  The full convention report will be in the next issue.

Again, this year in mid-October, we had a table at the Education Minnesota conference to raise awareness about the resource that is the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota for classroom teachers throughout the state.  At the end of October, I gave a full-day presentation about Unified English Braille to the statewide conference in Brainerd for teachers of blind students.  It was a wonderful opportunity for great conversations and strengthened connections with many creative, energetic and passionate teachers who believe strongly in the capacity of blind people and want to know everything they can to help their students get a good education and put their blindness in the right perspective.

Our NFB adjustment-to-blindness training center, BLIND (Blindness: Learning in New Dimensions), Incorporated, is now well into the new programs for transition-age youth, sharing the kind of ongoing skills training and exposure to well-adjusted blind role models that many of us who grew up in earlier times wish had been available to us.  Some of these youth attended our state convention as well as subsequent chapter activities.  We look forward to strengthened connections with these youth throughout the state.  There are also more classes available for seniors, some on just technology and some on the full range of alternative techniques of blindness.

This fall, we received a new NFB brochure.  We have affixed Minnesota-specific information to the brochure and are distributing copies at various events and wherever the opportunity arises.  We also have posters depicting our umbrella mosaic from the national convention this summer that serve to attract attention and start conversation at these events.

Our six chapters have been active, distributing literature at a football game, participating in a special education fair, working tables at local events to raise awareness, celebrating the holidays, and sharing our Federation message with one another and with those they meet.  Our Minnesota Association of Blind Students is getting geared up for a student seminar this spring — watch for more details.

Thanks to the efforts of many Federationists, we took in $1,126.92 from our online fund-raising effort on Give to the Max Day.

On November 10, we participated in a summer opportunities fair at the Department of Education.  It was great fun to see some of the students who attended our Saturday school years ago and how they are growing into confident young adults.  We also met new people and shared with all of them information about our various programs for youth, including our state and national scholarship program for those who will be attending college this fall. 

The following week, Martha Harris and I were pleased to attend the 2015 NFB of Pennsylvania convention, held in Wilkes-Barre at the time and place of the gathering of the seven states that founded the National Federation of the Blind.  The occasion was marked with great ceremony, including a presentation by Jacobus tenBroek's son about what it was like to grow up in the Federation and with many delightful details about our founding national president.  The details of this inspiring landmark state convention will no doubt be in the Braille Monitor.

Also in November, we met with the Governor's office to discuss the urgent need for additional money to serve seniors and mitigate the other extra burdens on state funding to State Services for the Blind (SSB).  We continue to work on laying the groundwork for the upcoming legislative session. 

We have continued to provide feedback to SSB regarding ways to ensure that necessary vocational rehabilitation and other services are available to blind Minnesotans from SSB in these times of funding shortfalls.  In December, SSB presented proposed policy and fee schedule changes for discussion at the meeting of the Minnesota State Rehabilitation Council for the Blind.  In late January, there will be public hearings on these proposals so that the public will have an opportunity to comment and suggest changes before SSB adopts them.  A resolution appears later in this issue about our position on principles that should govern any changes.

In December we participated in an open house with Janet LaBreck, Commissioner of the federal Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) to express to her the concerns we have here in Minnesota about the lack of clarity on how the Workforce Investment Opportunity Act regulations, which have not yet been released, will affect Minnesota.  There is very little in the way of answers yet, unfortunately, and RSA does not expect to release the actual regulations until the spring.

Minnesota Federationists are preparing to participate in the 2016 Washington Seminar January 25-28 to advocate for our legislation to eliminate subminimum wages, improve access to higher education, and make more books available in braille and other accessible formats. 

We need everyone's help to spread the word about our state and national scholarships.  The deadline for the national scholarships is March 31, and the deadline for the state scholarships is April 15.  Visit www.nfbmn.org and www.nfb.org/scholarships for more information.

May 2016 be a wonderful year for us all — individually and collectively!