A conversation with Lindsey Moon, President of the Minnesota DeafBlind Association. Interviewed by Kaitlyn Mielke.

Hi Lindsey! Thank you for joining me for a conversation about the Minnesota DeafBlind Association. Can you share some history of the Minnesota DeafBlind Association? How did it start?

Lindsey: The Minnesota DeafBlind Association, MDBA, was established in 1979. It is the only organization in the state of Minnesota that provides socializing and networking opportunities for DeafBlind individuals. Historically, DeafBlind individuals did not have many options to socialize, and back in the days it was difficult to communicate and connect with one another. Back then, there was no Internet, no email, and TTYs weren’t accessible for the DeafBlind. The best route was for DeafBlind individuals to gather in-person together. Even today with those technological options to stay connected, DeafBlind find it better to touch one another in gatherings and hands-on activities by using tactile communication over visual communication. The association was also established to share and spread information, educate the DeafBlind community, provide support and advocacy for issues that pertain to DeafBlind individuals. We provide a wide variety of workshops and of course, the much-anticipated annual Thanksgiving banquet as well.

What kind of activities does MDBA do for the community?

Lindsey: Like I mentioned earlier, we have two workshops - I typically don’t choose the subject matter. Instead, I query the community to see what subject matter they would like to be covered in those workshops. The most requested workshops and activities have been crafts, educational-related like one workshop where we covered personal defense and how to protect ourselves when faced with danger, sexual education, among other subject matters. There have been many over the years, including educational field trips where we go out into the community and visit locations such as one favorite, the Amish community in southern Minnesota. We’d visit their farm, learn about their lifestyle, and purchase Amish-made foods and goods in their community. That one is always a highlight of our members’ experiences. We’d like to set up an excursion to the art museum, and this summer we will be teaming up with Wilderness Inquiry to provide a day of canoeing fun. That was originally planned for last summer but due to weather-related concerns, it was canceled. You know how unpredictable the Minnesota weather can be! And of course, we’re known for our annual Thanksgiving banquet where we have many folks attending, even a good number of them from out of state.

Does MDBA do any collaborations with other Deaf/DB organizations in the community? What do they look like?

Lindsey: Currently, no. Mainly because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It has had an impact on MDBA, and activity has been quiet for the past few years. This is due to the reason that DeafBlind use tactile communication mainly, so due to COVID and the social distancing requirements, we have had little activity. As for collaborations in the past, we have collaborated with the Minnesota Commission of the Deaf, DeafBlind & Hard of Hearing on a number of events and opportunities. We would love to see more collaborations happening in the near future!

What kind of community activities would you love to see MDBA take on in the future?

Lindsey: I would love to see some kind of a youth activity for those who are DeafBlind or low-vision where young folks can get together to socialize. One of the reasons we are pursuing the canoeing event is because of the emphasis on youth, not just making it open for the public. There’s no need to be a member to be involved with this activity. There has also been a return for the beading workshop as requested from the DeafBlind community. This was run by DeafBlind Services Minnesota (DBSM) in the past, but has paused due unavailability of grant funding, so we’d like to see that continue. We are also planning some kind of a game night for DeafBlind individuals. Sighted folks can attend in a separate capacity as SSPs, aiding with tactile communication, or transportation. So that’s one of our goals, hopefully this year!

How can folks get involved with MDBA? Who can be involved?

Lindsey: Currently we have - if I remember this correctly - we have a president, vice president, of which both must identify as DeafBlind - a treasurer which can be a sighted person due to the need to exchange money; a secretary who can be either DeafBlind, or low-vision, or sighted as well. The rest including the board of trustees - prefer that they be DeafBlind as well. We do need to set up committees to focus on specific tasks, such as a Bylaws Committee. Our Bylaws are old and need to be updated, and COVID put a pause on that for now. Anyone can be on the Bylaws committee - DeafBlind, sighted folks, Deaf - it doesn’t matter. Also, one of our pressing needs is a committee for the annual Thanksgiving Banquet. Our previous committee have all stepped back and retired, so we need to start afresh. At this time, we have vacancies for Vice President, Treasurer, and three Trustees that need to be filled.

As for the wider community, anyone can be involved in several capacities - volunteering for events and activities, serving as transportation guides to aid DeafBlind to/from events and activities; serving as support service providers (SSPs), interpreting for events (those are paid opportunities through MDBA). Anyone can become members. Members will receive the newsletters, get involved with the workshops and events, and be able to vote in our annual elections.

Is there anything else that you would like the community to know about MDBA?

Lindsey: As I mentioned earlier, we really do need more folks to become involved with MDBA. We currently have four board members, including myself. We need more community folks to get involved in various capacities including volunteering and contributing to activities. For instance, we would love to have someone type up the newsletters. Someone to kickstart the planning and execution of the annual Thanksgiving banquet would be wonderful. Then there’s the Bylaws committee that I mentioned earlier. Those are just a few examples of how folks can be involved, and for those who are interested and willing, please contact us and we’ll talk! We also need a treasurer - that’s one of our top priorities at the moment. With the coronavirus pandemic starting to slow down, we are slowly transitioning to more in-person activities and meetings. Then there's our fiscal year, which will be expiring soon, and we need to use up our allocated budget on activities for the community members. So we have plenty of resources to provide workshops and events, but we need folks to become involved and get them off the ground and running. One resource we do still need, is an accessible space to provide those meetings, elections, workshops, and activities. Historically, we have had over a hundred attend our elections and large events, so we’d like to make that space happen again. So an accessible space with flexible settings and plenty of room would be wonderful to have.

Here is where you can contact MDBA.

MDBA's website
MDBA's Facebook
Email: MDBA1979@gmail.com

MDBA is a grant recipient from the Minnesota Department of Human Services, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Division (DHHSD). Learn more at DeafBlind education and community integration.