Florida DeafBlind Association

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President Rose's Q1 Report

Dear FDBA Members,

President Rose here.

Hope all is well with you. Wow, the first three months of this year flew by so fast and now spring has arrived already. I love the feeling of spring’s warm weather and smell the fragrance of spring everywhere. I love the fresh start of forgiven flowers blooming. I am so excited to start enjoying my new hammock and reading a book soon. Hope you enjoy Spring as much as I do.

I couldn't believe that it has been a year since the last Election Day in Gainesville already. I have been extremely overwhelmed, and learned a lot of everything about nonprofit organization. I have faced so many challenges to go through a long transition for FDBA’s new generation. It was uneasy to deal with new changes for the best. Now, I am ready to start many new goals, plans and events to come. Thank you, Board of Directors, Members and Supporters for being here for me to go through the first year. I wouldn’t be here without you. I really appreciate all the support together.

Happy 1st Anniversary, FDBA Board of Directors, Kathryn Zarate, Jesse Wall, David Williams, David Ennis, Kimberly Williams and Iris Cruz-Whidden. Let’s rock on this new amazing year of 2024. DeafBlind deserves the best quality of life! DeafBlind individuals need our support in the State of Florida. Set this goal and let’s go!

Secretary Jesse Wall and I went to Fort Myers last January to explore and visited IMAG Science, Ford and Edison’s Estates, Hotel, and downtown, so we can get ready for the State Meeting this coming May.

Unfortunately, our former treasurer, had decided to leave her position. I have appointed a new treasurer - David Williams to the FDBA Board. Thank you so much for accepting your new position and you did a great job with training. Jesse, David and I had several challenges with PayPal and Square. We got the mission accomplished. Great work, David and Jesse. It will be much easier for our next generations.

ASL Festival was in Orlando last March 9th unfortunately FDBA had to postpone doing the booth there because all the brochures and banners were outdated. I am looking for a new committee with skills in designing the brochures to update everything. If not, I will try my very best to start designing after the State Meeting. Great news is that ASL Festival holds FDBA’s credit for the booth until next year in St Augustine, Florida in March 2025. Stay tuned!

State Meeting 2024 is coming soon - 6.5 weeks left to go. It is at Drury Inn & Suites Fort Myers Airport FGCU 9950 University Plaza Drive, Fort Myers, FL 33913 on May 16-19, 2024 - We’re so excited! Please register for FDBA State Meeting 2024 if you plan to attend.

For State Meeting Vendors: If you are interested to sign up for the vendor (booth) on Saturday, May 18th, please contact me at FDBAPresident@gmail.com

Stomp, Stomp, Stomp ~ Who loves to play Carble? Come and join us for the Carble Tournament on Friday, May 17th, 7 PM for the first round. Six winners will play for the championship round on Saturday, May 18th at 8 PM.

Carble Tournament Prizes are: First Place ~ $150, Second Place ~ $100, Third Place ~ $50

Join in Carble Tournament is only $20 Per Person (First come, first serve up to 36 players). Interested in signing up? Please contact FDBA Treasurer, David Williams at treasurerfdba@gmail.com Deadline by May 1 - Everyone is welcome to participate. Thank you for supporting FDBA.

My new goal: Traveling in the State of Florida for an opportunity to help improve DeafBlind’s quality of life. Also, to help to connect DeafBlind’s Community throughout the state. Another goal is to create a network of CoNavigators. We already have a good number of CoNavigators in Jacksonville and St Augustine and it's time to recruit more CNs in other parts of Florida.

I am still looking for new FDBA representatives to set up DeafBlind Social events in each major city such as Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando, Pensacola, Tallahassee, Tampa, and etc. If you are interested, please contact the FDBA President.

I would LOVE FDBA Members and Sponsors to come and help us as a volunteer for fundraising programs and support FDBA. Please email me if you have any new ideas to raise money in 2024. It would be greatly appreciated!