Meetings

DakotaLink Advisory Council

Quarterly Zoom Meeting

Meeting Notes

June 27, 2023

Members Present: Ted Carrell, Sarah Rush, Richard Moeller, Kendra Gottsleben, Eric Weiss, Matt Cain, Amy Scepaniak, Bill McEntaffer

Members Absent: Mary Sjerven, Lyle Cook, Mollie Keating, Gaye Mattke, Gloria Pluimer, Beth Schiltz, Kayla Kane

Staff Present: Page Hudson, Andrea Steele, Brett Burden, James Honomichl

Guests Present: Jessica Sehnert

Meeting Start

Richard called the meeting to order at 9:32 am MT, 10:32 am CST.

Agenda

Eric motioned to approve the agenda. Ted seconded.

Meeting Notes

There were no corrections to the March 8^th meeting notes. Richard motioned to approve the meeting notes. Eric seconded.

Vote for Chair

Eric nominated Richard for Chair. Brett seconded. Sarah nominated herself. Ted seconded. Richard Moeller and Sarah Rush are running for Chair. Page sent out an email to collect votes for the position. After votes were collected, it was determined that Richard is the new Chairperson. We will vote on the Vice Chair at the September meeting. We currently have one nomination for Vice Chair, so if anyone else would like to nominate someone, please let Page Hudson know before the next meeting.

New Council Members

Amy Scepaniak is employed with the South Dakota Deaf Blind Program.

Bill McEntaffer is employed with the South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulations.

Gloria Pluimer is employed with Black Hills Special Services.

Technician Update

Brett Burden informed the council that Joshua Popelka no longer works for DakotaLink. Mark Cook in Aberdeen is retiring in the Fall.  We are in the process of hiring new technicians now.

New Technology: Cool Tool: Morphic Toolbar

James Honomichl did a presentation on this new form of technology that can assist people with visual impairments and makes it easier to access accessibility settings that can be hard to find. It is a free toolbar that is available on Windows. It works on both Windows and Mac.

AT4ALL

DakotaLink is getting an upgrade soon but does not have any details yet.

Outreach  

DakotaLink advertised on KELO last year and the beginning of this year. Now with some money left over they are advertising through Midcontinent banner ads that run on certain websites and a video ad that runs on streaming services.  This will run through October.

DakotaLink is scheduled to attend the Summer Transition Institute in Oacoma, SD on July 11^th & 12^th and is also scheduled to be at the South Dakota Conference on Developmental Disabilities held in Sioux Falls at the Convention Center September 6 & 7, 2023.

Ryan Phillips at the Technology Innovation & Education (TIE) is working on our video interview that we filmed last month.  We are hoping to have it up on our website soon.

SD Medical Equipment Recycle & Reuse Update

The Department of Social Services decided to end this program as it was not generating enough interest from the public and DME providers.  Most of the equipment was donated to the North Dakota HERO program. The program closed as of June 30.

DakotaLink Low-Interest Loan Program

DakotaLink has offered the loan program to individuals. Brett Burden said he turned one application in this quarter. DakotaLink can be more flexible with this loan program than most banks. The interest rate is usually 5% but we have some flexibility with that. Examples are vehicles, vehicle modifications, and various equipment. Kendra mentioned that the counselors should know about this loan program so they can help inform consumers about its availability.

Next Meeting

The next virtual meeting is set for Monday September 25, 1:00 pm MT, 2:00 pm CST.

Meeting End

Ted motioned to adjourn the meeting. Kendra seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 10:34 am MT, 11:34 am CST.

Notes taken by Andrea Steele