‘You Cannot Leave the Land’: Randolph Center Farmer Carries on After Stroke
June 2014
National AgrAbility Project News
Save the date for AgrAbility Regional Training Workshops! Pittsburgh, PA: July 29th-30th, 2014; Fort Collins, CO, September 30th–October 1st, 2014 more
Join us for the AgrAbility all-staff call/web meeting. Wednesday, July 1 at 3:00 p.m. EDT. A guest presenter from SourceAmerica is scheduled.
Webinar Reminder: Suicide Awareness with a Focus on Veterans and Rural Americans. Thursday, June 26, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. EDT. More
An AgrAbility workshop is to be held on the University of Maryland Eastern Shore campus August 14-15, 2014 more
"A great experience with many good contacts for AgrAbility!" was Chuck Baldwin's assessment of his time at the National Farmworkers Health Conference, held in Delray Beach, Florida, May 13-16. more
Resource Highlight: 2-1-1: three little numbers with thousands of resources. more
State and Regional AgrAbility Project News
California
CalAgrAbility piloted "Health is Wealth: Diabetes Management," a two-hour bilingual (English/Spanish) chronic diseases presentation on diabetes for farm families. CalAgrAbilty piloted the presentation in the rural community of Winters, CA, and will present it in Esparto, CA, next month.
A new series of English "Get Moving" exercise classes will begin in June at Northern Valley Indian Health in Woodland, CA.
CalAg staff completed the Heat Illness Prevention Training. Many farmers are struck with heat stress each year resulting in fatalities or long-term effects.
CalAg's partner, the Farmer Veteran Coalition, screened a special showing of the movie, Ground Operations: Battlefields to Farm Fields, at the Brower Center in Berkeley, which was well-attended. Many of the young veterans in the movie were present.
CalAgrAbility partnered with the California Dept. of Pesticide Regulation at a Stockton, CA, safety fair.
CalAg's long-term collaborator, the California AT Network, worked with the California disability community and allies for the 11th annual Disability Capitol Action Day (DCAD) on May 21. DCAD is one of the nation's largest and most diverse cross-disability annual days of unity. Thousands of advocates, politicians, and citizens gathered at the capitol in Sacramento in support.
UC Davis featured its second Veterans, Disabled and Diversity Career and Resource Fair on May 14 at UC Davis' Sacramento campus. The event featured career opportunities for veterans, including work in farming, horticulture and other agriculture-related fields.
CalAgrAbility continues to use twitter. Follow us at https://twitter.com/calagrability.
Indiana
Steve Swain, Indiana AgrAbility rural rehabilitation specialist, and Paul Jones, Indiana AgrAbility project manager, presented a webinar with Indiana AgrAbility partner INDATA, the Indiana Technical Assistance Project, for Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation counselors. More
Indiana AgrAbility/Breaking New Ground held its semiannual advisory team meeting at the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana, a collaborating partner of Indiana AgrAbility. More
Maine
Maine AgrAbility is working with the Farmer Veteran Coalition, Maine Chapter, to finalize its board and establish roles and responsibilities.
Maine AgrAbility is functioning as part of a network of support for the Maine Department of Agriculture - Conservation and Forestry to design and implement veteran-to-farmer training initiatives.
After several months of preparation and discussions Main AgrAbility has been approved to start a fee-for-service agreement with the VR Bureau for on-site farm assessments!
Lani Carlson presented an "Assistive Technology and Agriculture" presentation to two groups of high school students at the '4-H Connecting Kids to Campus' event held at the University of Maine campus on April 19th. More
Maine AgrAbility presented, in coordination with the Maine Forest Service and FSA, at a local high school diversity day. More
Missouri
Staff members from the Innovative Small Farmers Outreach Program (ISFOP) continue to partner with the MO AgrAbility Project. More
Because education encompasses a large part of AgrAbility's long-term investment strategy, Karen Funkenbusch provided a training program within the context of production agriculture focused on accommodating disabilities and avoiding secondary injuries in Amish youth. More
Karen Funkenbusch participated in, and provided input to, the 2nd planning committee for the 2014 Midwest Stream Farmworker Health Forum.
AgrAbility staff members Maureen Cunningham, director, Brain Injury Association of Missouri; Jon Sabala, veteran services director, Department of Mental Health; and Karen Funkenbusch, MU extension, participated in the monthly Missouri Behavioral Health Alliance (MOBHA) teleconference. More
The Brain Injury Association of Missouri (BIA-MO) hosted their annual camp for adult survivors of brain injury. More
North Carolina
NC AgrAbility partnered with the Arthritis Foundation-Mid-Atlantic Region to apply successfully for funds from the Agricultural Safety and Health Council for America. More
Dr. Mary Hildebrand, with ECU College of Allied Health Sciences, led a continuing education session entitled "Cultivating Accessible Agriculture with NC AgrAbility". More
The NC AgrAbility Advisory Board met May 14 in Greenville for project updates, NTW highlights and 2014 student design & research project outcomes. More
NC AgrAbility participated in a veterans' services outreach and coordination meeting hosted by RAFI, with Michael O'Gorman from Farmer Veteran Coalition, on May 21 in Pittsboro. More
Ohio
The Ohio AgrAbility Project (OAP) partnered with Freedom Gardens in Cincinnati, Ohio, to use a donation from a member that wanted to help with a project. More
Vermont
VT AgrAbility has organized the first VT Farmer Veteran Forum with goals of forming a VT chapter of the Farmer-Veteran Coalition and, using AgrAbility's leadership, creating a cohesive veteran farm network to serve veterans with disabilities.
West Virginia
AgrAbility staff attended the Wood County, West Virginia, Farm Safety Day on June 3 and 4. More
West Virginia AgrAbility staff will attend this year's RESNA conference, which will be held in Indianapolis, IN. More
West Virginia AgrAbility staff will attend the 2014 annual ISASH conference to be held at the Embassy Suites in Omaha, Nebraska, from June 22-26. More
Wyoming
Wyoming AgrAbility provided a demonstration and display on sun safety and skin cancer for 200 Laramie, Wyoming 5th graders as part of Albany County Extension's Progressive Agriculture Safety Day.
AgrAbility UK/Ireland
Following the presentation of a paper on designing for disabled farmers, co-authored by Rob Stuthridge of AgrAbility UKI and Bill field of NAP, at the Irish Ergonomics Society (IES) annual conference, an exciting new forum was founded called the Disability in Agricultural Work Community of Practice (DAWCoP). More
Follow AgrAbility UK/Ireland on Twitter https://twitter.com/AgrAbilityIRL
Staff Changes
NAP: Kate Hamm has stepped down as e-Note coordinator and editor to devote more time to technical editing for Bill Field while continuing her graduate studies. Chuck Baldwin has taken on that responsibility in addition to his role as NAP liaison to the 1890s.AgrAbility in the News
Click here for news stories featuring AgrAbility projects.
- AgrAbility publication helps guard against back problems
- Vermont farm safety pioneers honored
- Pharm to Farm; UMKC students travel throughout Missouri to deliver healthcare
- Tracy Harlan Earns National Recognition for Patient Care
- "12 Senior Design Presentations given this year…."
- Contributing to the Richness of His Community
- Program helps farmers with disabilities in 24 states
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Other News
Click here for other news of interest to AgrAbility staff members.
- Farmer Veteran Coalition launches Homegrown By Heroes National Certification Label
- Contributing to the Richness of His Community
- Oprah Show shares an inspiring story about a farmer named Chris
Upcoming Events
Click here for professional development events related to AgrAbility.Problems? Contact Clifford Racz, National AgrAbility Project, racz@purdue.edu