[IL-Talk] Chicago Chapter Minutes, November 9, 2024

Sun Dec 1 21:27:42 UTC 2024

CHICAGO CHAPTER MINUTES

November  9, 2024

TGIFriday, 153 E. Erie St., Chicago

CALL TO ORDER

Chicago Chapter President Denise Avant called the meeting to order at 1:00
PM. She announced that Paul Shepherdson is representing the Chicago Chapter
in the Bay Bridge Run, a fundraiser for the National Organization of Parents
of Blind Children (NOPBC). She invited new attendees to join the chapter by
paying five dollars in dues to our treasurer through Michelle Ault. She
thanked TGIFridays for hosting our chapter  meetings.

Attending on Zoom were Patti Chang, calling from Cleveland; Alisha Green,
calling from Rockford; Bart Hickey; Kira O'Bradovitch; Glenn  Moore from
Elgin; Dan Tevelde; Crystal Smith; Robert Hansen; Terry Gorman; Bob Widman;
Gary Jones; Bob Lee from Springfield; Steve Hastalis, calling from Virginia;
Marco Giannotti; and Mike di Turno, our speaker, from Las Vegas. In the room
were Eileen Truschke, Ken Schad, Pam Gillmore, Paul Shepherdson, Michelle
Ault, Donna Staples, Olivia Cichowlas, Marilyn Green, Ken Borst, first-timer
Elizabeth Cabral, Sara Luna, Bruce Paul, Jemal Powell, Erika Randolph,
George Lopez, Melissa Fuller, and Eileen Truschke. 

PROGRAM

Denise introduced the speaker, Mike di Turno, a training and development
specialist with the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC). His background is
in investigating cyber fraud in the financial industry. Identity theft can
impact people's lives in many ways. The ITRC provides information and free
assistance to victims. 

We all have sensitive personal information in hardcopy documents and on our
devices. Any organization can experience an event where bad guys get our
data. Once your data is compromised it becomes available for repeated
misuse.

Criminals want to get access to our credentials: Social Security numbers,
passwords, fingerprints, facial scans, and voice prints. The most common way
for criminals to get our information is through scams. Identity thieves
impersonate someone online or over the phone to trick the victim into
providing information. Also, an unauthorized third party can steal
information, called friendly fraud or family fraud.

More than half of identity theft occurs through scams. Next come lost or
stolen items. Next comes unauthorized access to a device. Among blind and
low-vision people, scams, unauthorized access, and stolen items are the
leading  causes. Blind people may also have a vulnerability through friendly
fraud. It  may be difficult to see telltale information in an email, such as
inconsistencies in font. 

In employment scams tricksters post job listings that appear to be valid.
People who follow through may be asked to download a third-party messenger
app which then gets information. 

Be aware of people trying to scare you, and watch out for any offer of
unexpected benefits. If it sounds to good to be true, it's probably a trick.
Warning signs are someone claiming to act from authority, a sense of
urgency, reluctance to answer questions, and a demand for secrecy. 

If your identity is stolen, contact the   IRTC at 888-400-5530. They will
help you create an individualized  plan free of charge.

NEW MEMBERS

Crystal Smith and Elizabeth  Cabral became members of the Chicago Chapter.
They  were welcomed with applause.

PRESIDENTIAL RELEASE

NFB President Mark Riccobono recorded Presidential Release 543 on October
29. He encouraged chapters to discuss major developments in our history and
issues we hope to tackle in the future. Some of these comments will be
included in the studio version of the Presidential Release and on social
media. Breaking down misconceptions continues to be our biggest problem. We
need to share our stories in every format. Our stories are our most powerful
tools. Our Kernel Books are a gold mine of stories. For Thanksgiving he
encouraged us to read "Wall to Wall Thanksgiving" by Barbara Pierce, which
appeared in the Kernel Book for 1997. 

John Cheadle of Maryland passed away recently. He was a longtime employee of
the Federation who contributed to the organization and the blind community
in countless ways. 

COLLECTION

We collected $66 in contributions and received $5 from new member Krystal
Smith. 

STATE REPORT

State Convention 2024: NFBI President Marilyn Green thanked everyone who
attended our state convention in person and on Zoom. She thanked the people
who worked on registration, managed the sound system, and ran mics. Email
president at nfb.org with thoughts and suggestions related to state convention.

Washington Seminar 2025: Washington Seminar is one of our most empowering
programs. For those who wish to represent Illinois this year, applications
are due by 11:59 pm on December 1. Denise and Dustin are our federal
legislation chairs. National Scholarship and Illinois Scholarship
applications will be available in December. 

SECRETARY'S MINUTES

Bruce Paul moved and Ken Schad  seconded approval of the corrected minutes
for September 2024. The motion was approved.

TREASURER'S REPORT

Chicago Chapter Treasurer Kira O'Bradovitch reported that we had $3121.91 in
the treasury at the end of the second quarter for 2024. At the end of the
third quarter we had $2,824.27. Third quarter income was $935 from the
bowling fundraiser and a later donation of $10, for a total of $945. The
chapter collection in August brought in $81 and the September collection
brought us $78, for a total of $159. We had additional donations of  $150
and $15 for $165. Games Day payments came to $700. Seven people paid
membership dues, amounting to $35. Michal is still tallying the Read-a-Thon
donations, which so far come to about $100. At this point we have a total of
$2004 in income for the third quarter. Expenses were $180 to the venue for
the bowling fundraiser and $500.65 to Exchequer, for a subtotal of $680.65. 

We made three fifty-dollar donations to the national office for a total of
$150. We paid $100 to the Blind Service Association to take part in the
Vision Expo. The $1326 brought in during the third quarter was deposited and
$935.65 was withdrawn from our account. A sum of $698 will post as income
for the fourth quarter. We received a very generous donation of $1350 from
Ken Borst's classmates. Right now we have $4,417.25 in the treasury. 

Michal moved and Pam seconded approval Of the report. The report was
approved.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Advocacy: Kira reported that the Advocacy Committee met in September. The
CTA board is finally getting involved in the issue of accessible signage. In
November they will begin to solicit feedback. They continue to be very
focused on QR codes. We want to emphasize that buttons often are broken, so
we can't rely on auditory information. CTA will work with Access Living, and
they want us to be involved as well. Committee members have been looking at
other cities to gather specific ideas on making transit information more
accessible. Kira will announce the next meeting on IL-Talk. 

Fundraising: Dave Meyer announced that we will have a comedy club fundraiser
on January 16. It will be held at Comedy  Clubhouse, 1462 N. Ashland. The
entrance fee is $45 or $30 if you attend on Zoom. 

Our next chapter meeting will be held at Exchequer Pub and Restaurant, with
the call to order at 12:00 to allow time for our annual holiday auction. So
far we have three items to auction off. Baked goods, gently used items, and
gift certificates are very welcome. If you have items to donate, please
email Dave at datemeyer at sbcglobal.net.  

OLD BUSINESS

Steve Hastalis, Glenn Moore, Michelle Ault, Jean Johnson, and Jemal Powell
staffed our NFB table at the Vision  Expo sponsored by Blind Services
Chicago. Lots of people visited our table and asked questions about the NFB.
There was a very positive  atmosphere. reached a lot of people. Denise
thanked everyone who donated their time to staff the table. 

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 2:52 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Debbie Stein, Secretary

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