The Vermont AgrAbility team is collaborating with Dr. Michele Pfannenstiel, DVM, president of the Farmer Veteran Coalition of Maine and northeast coordinator for FVC, with plans to convene a working forum in June to establish a Vermont chapter of the Farmer Veteran Coalition. The forum will include statewide leaders, peers, and other interested folks motivated to create more veteran-farm opportunities for veterans, especially those returning from deployment with disabilities.
The Vermont AgrAbility team, including its partner non-profit organization the Vermont Center for Independent Living, participated in a traumatic brain injury awareness project facilitated through members of its TBI Support Group in St. Johnsbury, VT. The project involved the creation of three-dimensional artistic depictions of folks living with TBI symptoms. This very successful art display is being shown in various public places throughout Vermont, beginning with Lyndon State College and moving on to the statehouse in Montpelier. It has already generated press with stories in The Caledonian-Record of St. Johnsbury and News & Citizen of Morrisville, which the Vermont AgrAbility staff hopes will increase outreach efforts to peer farmers and farmer-veterans suffering with TBI.
Submitted by Kenny Smith