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April 2010

National AgrAbility Project News

Mark your calendars for the next AgrAbility All Staff Call on May 13th at 3:00 EDT, 2:00 CDT, 1:00 MDT, 12:00 PDT.

The NAP welcomed 18 staff members from current and future SRAPS for a professional development event focused on worksite assessments.More

Presentation proposals for the 2010 NTW in Charleston, WV at due on May 1.More

Hotel reservations can now be made for the 2010 NTW.More

Check here for the schedule of upcoming Community of Interest and Standing Committee call information.More

A new report, AgrAbility–A Program that Works has been posted on Goodwill Industries International website  http://www.goodwill.org/More

The Arthritis and Agriculture project is preparing a mailing to be sent to over 7300 high school agriculture departments and over 3,000 county extension offices across the U.S. to promote AgrAbility and raise awareness of arthritis in agricultural occupations.More

Over 1,800 copies of the Gaining Ground on Arthritis DVD were ordered by the SRAP’s during the special promotional period from March 11th to March 19th!More

State and Regional AgrAbility Project News

California

The Spanish Arthritis Fotonovela edits are complete and it has gone to the printers!

California AgrAbility received $5,000 grant from FSA to conduct workshops throughout the state.More

Staff  were also invited to the beautiful Shasta area in north of the state to conduct workshops.More

CalAgrAbility staff attended the first Farmer Veteran Coalition Career Day in Santa Rosa. Several referrals were received from this for consumer assistance.

Arthritis Leader Workshops for April  (English) and May (Spanish), which are first-ever-events in this region, and cosponsored by Yolo County Cooperative Extension, are being planned.

Colorado

New contact information for Jill Sump and Vince Luke as of April 1, 2010:  Their offices are moving to Goodwill Industries of Denver.  Stay in touch by reaching them at jsump@goodwilldenver.org (303-385-7636) and vluke@goodwilldenver.org (303-385-7386)  or write the old-fashioned way at 6850 Federal Blvd. Denver, CO 80221.

Indiana

Four ergonomics workshops targeting migrant and seasonal farmworkers are planned in Indiana during April and May.More

Amber Wolfe, AgrAbility Project Coordinator for the Arthritis Foundation-Indiana Chapter has been busy with a variety of public awareness events.More

Missouri

The Missouri AgrAbility Project supported the Washington University-St. Louis, Missouri, Department of Occupational Therapy Program:People with disabilities who are successfully employed research project.More

The Community Food Pantry in Northwest Missouri provided a half-day workshop where participants learned ways of reaping their harvest by raising their own produce.More

During the month of March, Karen Funkenbusch presented four, two hour seminars about the AgrAbility Project and How to Use Tools & Techniques for Easier Gardening to sixty-five women from faith-based organizations. More

Deanna Thompson, MS, RD, LD, Registered Dietitian, Patient and Community Education Coordinator at St. John's Clinic, Erin Thompson, owner of Show-Me Scapes Garden Center, and Karen Funkenbusch presented an AgrAbility Gardens for Every Body:Tools & Techniques for Easier Gardening program in Mountain Grove, Missouri. More

Russell Ramsey, Volunteer and Farmer Liaison, assisted our neighboring state-level AgrAbility Projects by exhibiting the AgrAbility Project at The Southern Cotton Ginners Association Mid-South Farm & Gin Show, in Memphis, TN. More

Russell Ramsey, Volunteer and Farmer Liaison and his wife, Wanda distributed AgrAbility information and resource materials to local agencies throughout the Southeast region of the state.More

Jackie Allenbrand disseminated AgrAbility information, PHARM Dog brochures, and MERIL resource materials throughout the Northwest region of Missouri.

Willard Downs provided an AgrAbility orientation for Whitney Wiegel, an Ag Business Specialist for the University of Missouri Extension. 

Ohio

Ohio Agrability has been busy working with clients to solve problems through assistive technology and universal design. March and April have been very busy months attending Ag Conferences, Ag Safety Days, and providing educational presentations to many organizations across the state. More

Oklahoma

March 19 was the annual Oklahoma Youth Expo (OYE)--The World’s Largest Youth Livestock Show. This year, the Oklahoma AgrAbility Project was represented by Amanda Erichsen and Kylee Willard at the event as part of OSU Day at the OYE.More

Pennsylvania

Check-out the latest news in AgrAbility for Pennsylvanians' current newsletter edition. This month, the focus is on a dairyman who is building a dairy operation from scratch with the help of multiple county, state, and national resources - including AgrAbility.More

Vermont

Vermont will hold two Arthritis & Agriculture Workshops with featured speaker, Amber Wolfe from the Arthritis Foundation on April 14 & 15th. More info

Vermont AgrAbility’s spring 2010 Peer Connections newsletter is hot off the press. Read it here.

West Virginia

West Virginia AgrAbility exhibited and presented at the Small Farms Conference held in Morgantown March 2nd-5th.More

West Virginia staff will present Caring for Caregivers: Tools for Supporting Caregivers in Rural Areas at the West Virginia Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers in late April.More

There is now an easier way to access West Virginia AgrAbility’s webpage.  Check out the page’s new revisions and updates by visiting www.wvagrability.org.

Staff Changes

NAP/Indiana

On April 21st, Kim Stockment will be leaving NAP/BNG and returning to the Purdue Conference Division. Her efforts in marketing and conference/event planning for the NAP, as well as her cheerful smile, will be missed!

Colorado

Occupational therapy student Brian Lueberring, will be joining the Colorado AgrAbility Project this month.  He’ll be doing one of his level-II fieldwork assignments gaining some experience and earning credit toward his degree from Rockhurst University in Kansas City, MO.

AgrAbility in the News

Click here for news stories featuring AgrAbility projects

Other News

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Upcoming Events

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Problems? Contact Clifford Racz, National AgrAbility Project, racz@purdue.edu