By Jennifer Dunnam, President

I would first like to take a moment to thank the many people who helped to make our 2009 annual convention a success. You will read more about the convention in this and future issues of the Minnesota Bulletin, but the accomplishments and festivity of the weekend occurred because of the cooperation of many dedicated folks working behind the scenes and of all who attended. I am happy to be able to share with you some positive developments that have occurred since the convention, some of which are based on the groundwork we laid that weekend.

The process of hiring a director for SSB has been long and worrisome, but now it is complete. After the most recent posting for the position was closed, three candidates were identified to be interviewed—Eric Falk, Torrey Westrom, and Richard Strong. The National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota, along with other consumer organizations and the State Rehabilitation Council for the Blind, was invited to submit questions to be used in the interview. We were also asked to have a representative attend the interview sessions as an observer, and I participated on our behalf. State employees participating in conducting the interviews were Paul Moe, Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED); Kim Peck, Director of the Vocational Rehabilitation Services unit of DEED; and Bonnie Elsey, Workforce Division Director of DEED. The sessions took the entire day of December 18, and after all of the interviews were complete, everyone on the interview panel participated in a discussion of the decision.

As a result of this process, the position was offered to and accepted by Richard Strong—an excellent choice for the future of the agency and for the blind of Minnesota. Richard Strong has worked in the blindness field for many decades, most recently serving as Acting Director for SSB while also directing the Communication Center and the Senior Services unit. He is a capable leader with a thorough knowledge of the rehabilitation process, a strong belief in blind people, and a demonstrated willingness to see that those beliefs and expectations translate into policy and practice. We congratulate him, and we will continue to work with him and play an active role in assisting with the challenges ahead.

For challenges there certainly continue to be. Staff transition at SSB continues, and state budget cuts loom. The number of customers whose cases are closed as successfully employed has been trending downward—see the resolution passed at the annual convention for more in-depth discussion of this subject. These are not issues that lend themselves to quick fixes, and indeed the "quick fix" is the least desirable solution in most cases. By the time you read this, the first new hires will have begun their training under the improved staff training policy, including six weeks of adjustment-to-blindness training as well as a "job shadowing" day in which the employee spends the day on the job with a successfully employed blind person. Some of our members are helping with the shadowing day, and we hope it will be a start toward helping these new staff get the right context for what is possible and what should be expected. As always, we continue to help advocate for individuals to ensure they receive quality services throughout their rehabilitation process.

In Early November I was pleased to participate on the agenda of the Statewide Vision Network (the network for teachers working with blind students that meets quarterly), highlighting the youth programs of the National Federation of the Blind locally and nationally. For some of the teachers, this was the first they had heard of our work in this area, and the discussion was lively and productive. Since then we have worked to cultivate the connections and will continue to do so.

We have begun to take advantage of new ways to reach and communicate with more people by making our presence known in the social media. Follow @nfbmn on Twitter, or search for "National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota" on Facebook to keep up with the latest goings-on around the state and to make your voice heard.

Our student division has been a part of getting us into these current communications media. The new president, Katlyn Kress, and the rest of the new board—Jean Rauschenbach, Matthias Niska, Anne Naber, and Jordan Richardson—are ready to contribute their talents and ideas. At this writing in December, they are working on planning a talent show to raise funds for other activities that the division would like to undertake to spread the positive truth about blindness.

In December our newly-formed Seniors Division held elections, with Joyce Scanlan now serving as president, Harry Kruger as vice president, and RoseAnn Faber as Secretary/treasurer. We look forward to good things from the seniors.

In the past few months, through the hard work of Dick Davis and several others, this affiliate has sold close to 100 of the NFB Louis Braille Commemorative silver dollars, by making them available at coin shows and other events. Add to this the many additional coins that individual members of the affiliate have bought. The US Mint has clarified for us that, because enough coins have been sold to cover the production costs, $10 from the sale of each of the braille silver dollars will be made available to the NFB for braille literacy programs. These coins are no longer available from the Mint, but in case you missed your chance to own your very own, we do have some here in Minnesota available for purchase.

In mid November, a new online giving website called givemn.org was launched, and to promote it, a “Give to the Max” day was held on November 17. Thanks to many generous members and friends, we raised over $1,200 in donations online that day. We cannot say thank-you enough to all those who helped with this effort. This affiliate has not been immune to the economic difficulties affecting everyone this year, and this effort will help us to be able to keep doing the work we need to do.

Efforts are underway to increase our membership, to help those who need us get connected with us. We held training in November on membership recruiting, mostly attended by enthusiastic members of our Rochester chapter, and we will be holding more of these calling centers in the upcoming months. We will also focus on working to help strengthen all of our chapters.

It is my hope that each and every one of you has embarked on a happy and prosperous new year. Prosperity comes in many forms, not the least of which is the good that comes to us from working to make a difference for the better. Thank you for all of your many forms of support for the work of the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota.