Florida DeafBlind Association

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President Rose's Q4 Report

Hello FDBA Members & Supporters,

President Rose here

Greetings to you during this joyous time of year! May you experience the spread of laughter, the warmth of love, and the joy of gratitude this season and beyond. We, board of directors, wish you a very happy holiday! We hope you enjoy this time with your loved ones and have a wonderful winter season.

To update about our FDBA Secretary, Jesse Wall — Most of you have heard and maybe few haven't heard yet — Jesse fell down hard in our backyard and broke his femur (Thigh/Upper leg) last August and he was brought to the Emergency Room by the ambulance. It was a very frightening day for Jesse and me. The next day, he went into the surgery and got a long steel rod inserted inside his femur from the hip to knee. Bless this amazing doctor at Baptist Medical Hospital in Jacksonville for the success of Jesse’s surgery. Lucky enough, he came home the next day instead of the Rehab Center and he worked very hard every day with painful therapy to be able to walk again. Today, he is able to walk without a walker or cane. He plans to continue therapy by himself everyday. Bless his heart.

As we all know, our DeafBlind community is very small in the state of Florida. It is very important for all of you to have quality of life to maintain good mental health. We are just humble human beings and it is okay to learn from the mistakes we all make. We sit down, talk and share our feelings. Everyone is different and we all need to learn and respect each other. We are DeafBlind FAMILY with love. Forgiveness brings the liberty to love again, to heal the heart, soul and mind, which is important for our mental health.

Since we all know that having a CoNavigator program is very important for our mental health, my primary goal is to get a CoNavigator program set up in the state of Florida, hopefully. It’s been difficult to find CoNavigator who are willing to volunteer their time. Bless their heart! It’s time for them to be compensated for their time like they do in other states. We all need to get together to show our embrace of our DeafBlind Community. I can't do it alone, I need your help and please come to support FDBA.

I would love to thank Maria Marquez, Tracie Inman and Winfield Sainpreux for participating in the Tactile Art Show at the St. Augustine Art Association (STAAA) — They were displayed October 4 through 27, 2024. October is National Sensory Processing Awareness Month and the STAAA was hosting the Tactile Art Show. Unlike most art exhibits, viewers—blind, visually impaired, or sighted are invited to touch the artwork! Maria, Tracie and Winfield made their beautiful tactile artwork - We, DeafBlind really enjoyed touching so many amazing artworks made by DeafBind and Blind Artists. Very inspiring and amazing, indeed. Let's try that again next year in October. I will participate for sure.

Just a friendly reminder, FDBA Board is planning to host a booth at Florida ASL Festival in St. Augustine and enjoy a midway featuring over 60 booth vendors, ASLingo games, food, music and entertainment, booth exhibitions and competitive exhibits, and so much more. Come celebrate the community and make lifelong memories with your family and friends! The address is at 60 Orange St, St Augustine, Florida 32084 on Saturday, February 22 at 10 AM to 5 PM. Come and join us.

FDBA Board Members will be able to attend the Florida ASL Festival on Saturday, February 22nd unfortunately I may not be there because I may be in the ProTactile Immersive Training Program.

I received a proposal from Tactile Communication, Inc two weeks ago and I will have a meeting with DVR and DBS next month to discuss the plan for the first six weeks of PT Immersive Training Program. I really am excited to bring ProTactile language to all of DeafBlind, CoNavigators and supporters.

FDBA State Meeting 2025 will be at Drury Inn & Suites Hotel at 1690 Raymond Diehl Road,Tallahassee, Florida 32303 on Thursday April 3 to Sunday April 6, 2025.

FDBA Board and I will arrange a Field Trip, Carble Tournament, Exhibitions, Workshops and many more fun things to do. Anyone who is interested in volunteering to help with State Meeting. Please feel free to contact me. Looking forward to see/touch you all there in Tallahassee.

To make reservations, please click on the link below.

https://www.druryhotels.com/bookandstay/newreservation/?groupno=10119151

Please make your reservations by Sunday, March 2, 2025 to receive your group rate. Reservations made after this date will be subject to prevailing rates and availability.

Stomp, Stomp, Stomp, I am so excited to share with you all about the FDBA Committee Team hosting Carnival Vista Cruise for the National Carble Tournament and FUN getaway together.

It is a 6 Day Cruise - Eastern Caribbean on April 26 - May 2, 2026 - Leaving Port Canaveral (Orlando), Florida to Celebration Key (Bahamas), Half Moon Cay (Bahamas) and Amber Cove (Dominican Republic).

For more information or to book your reservation, please click here:

https://fdba.infinitegetaway.com/

Carnival has built a lot of ships over the years, but for a truly unique experience at sea, clients have to check out this ship. It is only natural they will want to start outdoors, so we all want to. Their attention will go directly to, wait, are those flying bicycles? Pretty much! SkyRice at SportSquare is a twin-track suspended bike course. You can strap in and race around for a win or just cruise for a great pleasure. Hope you all can join us to have a BLAST! PT Stomps

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 2025. It would be greatly appreciated!

Our FDBA Motto - “You make the difference! Together we make an amazing difference!” ~ Rose

May this new year bring new happiness, new goals, new achievement, and a lot of new inspirations in your life.