National AgrAbility Project News
A new AgrAbility brochure is ready for printing. Each SRAP is scheduled to receive 250, and additional orders should be made by Friday, June 18. More
Special thanks to our guest presenters on the AgrAbility all-staff call Thursday, May 13, including Linda Jaco, Oklahoma AgrAbility Co-Director, who spoke on support from Farm Bureau at the state and national levels and Jordan Abushawish and Seth Turner of Goodwill Industries International who shared about Goodwill’s promotion of AgrAbility at the federal level.
The Spanish arthritis and agriculture fotonovela, ¿Podrá ser la ARTRITIS lo que me causa DOLOR? (Is arthritis the cause of my pain?), is ready! More
Amber Wolfe staffed a display at the National Rural Health Association annual conference in Savannah, Georgia from May 18-21.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
State and Regional AgrAbility Project News
California
CalAgrAbility and the Arthritis Foundation conducted two successful 3-day Leader Workshops in both Spanish and English. More
CA AgrAbility staff participated in the Examining Challenges and Successes of Reaching Out to Male Farmworkers conference.More
Rural health fairs have begun, and CalAgrAbility staffed informational tables for the Festival de la Familia where some 70,000 families gathered in Sacramento County. In addition, CalAgrability staffed booths at the Yuba County Festival de la Salud in May as well as the Arthritis Annual Walkathon Fair.
CalAgrAbility, along with the Farmer Veteran Coalition, is in the final planning stages for the Farming-Vet Fair to be held in Santa Monica on June 30. A large turnout is expected as it is a collaboration of farmers markets, USDA, and local media.
In addition, CalAgrAbility is working on research regarding stretching for farming populations in conjunction with the California State Fund, the largest workers compensation organization in CA. Stretching may reduce musculo-skeletal injuries.
Indiana
On June 11, Rob Stuthridge of Indiana AgrAbility presented a workshop on Arthritis and Ergonomics at the 97th Home and Family Conference More
On June 25, Rob Stuthridge of Indiana AgrAbility is scheduled to present a breakout session at the Indiana Migrant Farmworker Conference More
Amber Wolfe staffed a three-day exhibit at the Shipshewana Flea Market and Auction by from May 5-7.More
Kansas
Kansas AgrAbility AT Ag Specialists Steve Hoover and Galen Seehafer staffed an AgrAbility exhibit at the 3i Farm Show, May 5-7 in Great Bend, KS. The 3i (irrigation, implements, industry) is Kansas’ largest outdoor farm show.
On May 5, Kansas AgrAbility Project Coordinator Kerri Ebert presented information about AgrAbility at a luncheon of the Kansas Cavalry, an all volunteer economic development organization that recruits businesses to Kansas.
Minnesota
On May 11, the MN AgrAbility project hosted a training session on Agriculture Assessments in St Cloud, MN.More
Mississippi
The past 13 years have provided many wonderful opportunities to learn, develop friendships, network, and grow professionally, all to better serve our state's farmers with disabilities. The June e-Note will be the last for Mississippi, and therefore we'd like to say THANKS for those opportunities and to those friends we've looked forward to seeing each fall at our annual workshop. Herb will retire at the end of June and Emily will be around until sometime in August helping out with water quality publications. We'll keep an eye on AgrAbility and keep up with the great things happening!
Each state should have received a copy of the MS AgrAbility Project DVD entitled Caring for a Diabetic Foot or Residual Limb in a Farming Environment.More
Nebraska
Occupational and physical therapists and OT students from southeastern Nebraska and northern Kansas recently took part in a day-long seminar, Rehabilitating Nebraska Farmers and Ranchers with Disabilities, in Hebron, NE.More
Erinn Zurcher, a native Nebraskan and current student at Rockhurst University in Kansas City spent a week with the Nebraska AgrAbility team as part of her experiences in working toward a master’s degree in occupational therapy.More
Rod Peterson, Rural Rehabilitation Specialist with Nebraska AgrAbility, staffed an exhibitor booth and attended the Panhandle Independent Living Services’ JAM (Joint Agency Meeting on Disabilities) in Chadron May 6th. He promoted Nebraska AgrAbility and distributed referral forms.
Ohio
Ohio AgrAbility is continuing to work with the Natural Resources Conservation Service by providing educational presentations at the NRCS area meetings throughout the state.
New Ohio AgrAbility brochures are now being distributed to the Farm Service Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service offices throughout Ohio.
Fact sheets, resources, and information on Universal Design for the Farmstead are being compiled to be available later this summer. Presentations will include a display this year at the Ohio Farm Science Review.
Oklahoma
Sandra Stevenson,Oklahoma AgrAbility Project Manager,trained newly hired Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services counselors and technicians at the DRS Academy held May 6, 2010.More
Dr. Jan Johnston, Oklahoma AgrAbility Principal Investigator, and Kevin Bell, Program Coordinator, conducted in-service training for district and county Family and Consumer Science Educators on May 12 and 26, 2010. More
Oklahoma AgrAbility participated in the Garfield County Progressive Agriculture Safety Day May 13, 2010.More
Pennsylvania
Penn State University Agricultural Greek organizations recently raised $1000 to help a Union County goat milk producer. Members of Delta Theta Sigma, Alpha Zeta, and Alpha Gamma Rho fraternities, and Sigma Alpha sorority, gathered the funds through a Penny War campaign sponsored by AgrAbility for Pennsylvanians.More
Vermont
Tom Younkman of the Vermont AgrAbility Project has now passed the goal he set for 2010:to add 14 Barn Builder peer members, and its only May!
Janis Moore continues to write entertaining blog posts and peer newsletters. More
AgrAbility team members took part in a 5-day training on Farm Health and Occupational Safety in April. More
Continued outreach through social media seems to be gaining some traction with the use of the Farm Safe blog and Facebook sites.More
Wisconsin
On May 11th, AgrAbility of Wisconsin staff Dick Straub, Ron Schuler, and Bob Meyer met with Omar Abdelati, the Libyan delegate to President Obama’s Entrepreneurship Summit in Washington, DC.More
West Virginia
Staff has battled rain, flooded bridges, and mud slides to be a part of the annual Farm Safety Days camps across the state.More
WV AgrAbility exhibited at the second annual Kanawha Valley Sustainability Fair held May 22nd at the Habitat for Humanity Restore in Charleston. More
Caring for the Caregiver: Tools for Supporting Caregivers in Rural Areas was well received at the National Association of Social Workers WV Chapter Conference held in late April.More
Staff Changes
Nebraska
Victoria Lipovsky left the Nebraska AgrAbility program when her position with Easter Seals Nebraska was eliminated due to budget cuts. Victoria took over as NE AgrAbility project leader for ESN in 2009, and was an excellent promoter for the project, working with health care professionals, media, and other agencies to raise awareness of AgrAbility in Nebraska. Her enthusiasm will definitely be missed in Nebraska.
As Victoria leaves the position, the project welcomes Mike Tufte, Program Director for Easter Seals Nebraska, to the AgrAbility team. Mike has been with ES for 10 years, 5 in Arizona and 5 in Nebraska. He oversees direction of AFP/Telework and Camp/Respite programs as well as AgrAbility.
Oklahoma
Jan Johnston and Kevin Bell are the newest members of the AgrAbility team. Jan is the new PI and Kevin is the new Program Coordinator for the Oklahoma AgrAbility Project at Oklahoma State University. Please feel free to extend a warm welcome to Jan and Kevin at kevin.g.bell@okstate.edu
AgrAbility in the News
Click here for news stories featuring AgrAbility projects
- Arthritis: The pain and farming
- 'Habitat' displays latest design
- Wyoming AgrAbility/ Ranch and farm safely: Protect YOUr investment
- Paralyzed but not out
- Agriculture remains dangerous occupation
- Hands-On Engineering gets a leg up: The ABCs of AgrAbility
Other News
Click here for other news of interest to AgrAbility staff members
- People with lower limb loss invited to participate in national quality of care survey
Upcoming Events
Click here for professional development events related to AgrAbility
Problems? Contact Clifford Racz, National AgrAbility Project, racz@purdue.edu