One of CalAgrAbility's consumers from San Diego is seeking land to farm. CalAgrAbility staff linked him to the Land Access Program and Farm Link in Santa Cruz, as well as to the Transition Incentives Program (TIP) through the National Sustainable Agricultural Coalition (NSAC). NSAC has funds to help connect retiring landowners with new farmers. Read more about it here: http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/tip-fy15-data/?utm_source=roundup&utm_medium=email.
He is also a volunteer for CalAgrAbility, assisting veterans going into ag careers and distributing AgrAbility brochures and posters to San Diego County ag offices, Farm Bureaus, EDD, Goodwill, AF, ILC's and 3DG2050.org (a veteran service organization). 3DG aims to enhance the lives of veterans at the grass roots level. It builds on veterans' capacities to showcase their talents, skills, and dedication to helping their country and in return they will earn a true living wage. http://3dg2050.org/?page_id=74
To celebrate the Americans with Disabilities Act's (ADA's) 25th anniversary, CalAgrAbility released a Spanish PSA highlighting an amputee consumer and the solutions CalAgrAbility found to keep him working independently on the farm. This meets AgrAbility and ADA goals. View the PSA: http://ucanr.edu/sites/Spanish/Noticias/radio/?uid=6375&ds=199. CalAgrAbility will also conduct a workshop on rehabilitating farmers at the ADA San Francisco Conference on September 25, 2015.
CalAgrAbility and Migrant Ed conducted an outreach throughout California Delta pear farms. Staff gained four additional consumers with acute eye injuries, chronic vision problems, diabetes, and arthritis. Community Medical Centers, Inc. and the Courtland and Walnut Grove Offices of Education also joined the event. This effort reached over 300 farmworkers. CalAgrAbility distributed materials in English and Spanish, including heat illness cards from collaborators at the Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety at UC Davis.
CalAgrAbility staff attended an excellent webinar, "AT: Simple Solutions for the Outdoorsman with Disabilities" where recreational therapist Chris Ravotti spoke. CalAgrAbility staff was inspired by Chris, who works at the Shepherd Center, one of the nation's top rehabilitation hospitals for spinal cord injury and brain injury located in Atlanta, Georgia. The outdoor program has adaptive equipment, education, skill development (target shooting, ATV, fishing, kayaking, camping), and community reintegration outings (rifle range, fishing, ATV riding). Chris says that often hunting and shooting equipment adapted for a disability is expensive. However, it is cheaper and easier to buy non-adapted gear and then learn adaptive techniques to safely use the equipment. For example, the iScope Camera is for folks with low vision.
The cell phone camera is mounted onto the scope and the image is projected into the phone. To learn more about it go to: http://www.iscope.com/. Visit the Shepherd Center website for examples of adaptations/AT for fishing, wheels for difficult terrain, etc., or contact Chris at chris_ravotti@shepherd.org. To read more about the center and patient programs visit: http://www.shepherd.org/
The CalAgrAbility partner Ability Tools and the Dept. of Rehabilitation (DOR) are collaborating to deliver a webinar about services and how farmers and ag workers can effectively access DOR services. This is planned for September 23, 2015, at 10:00 AM Pacific Time. CalAgrAbility will disseminate information widely so that farmers, workers, AgrAbility staff, and others who are interested, can join.
UC Davis Extension ANR reporter Alberto Hauffen interviewed CalAgrAbility about the U.S. migrant population and Cal-OSHA new regulations to prevent heat illness at work. To access the Spanish PSAs feel free to visit the website(s): http://ucanr.edu/sites/Spanish/Noticias/radio/?uid=6332&ds=199 & http://ucanr.edu/sites/Spanish/Noticias/radio/?uid=6343&ds=199 respectively.
Submitted by Maria Ceja