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June 2018

Maine

Project Coordinator Lani Carlson exhibited Maine AgrAbility information at the Agricultural Labor Field Day on May 3. This event was hosted by the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, and held at Kennebec Valley Community College. Maine AgrAbility joined 20 other exhibitors, sharing information and resources to support and expand the opportunities in agriculture through employment networking.


Maine AgrAbility met with Vocational Rehabilitation on May 16 to discuss collaborating on their progressive employment model called Jobsville. Lani Carlson will meet with VR counselors, job developers, and workforce employment specialists, in Bangor, and Augusta, Maine, during June to present possible employment opportunities for transition aged youth on farms.


A farmer who attended the NTW connected Maine AgrAbility to the Hanger clinic. Lani Carlson met with a certified prosthetist/orthotist, a PT, and employees at two of the three Hanger clinics in Maine. The last clinic will be toured in June. As a follow-up, AgrAbility information was shared with the physiatrists at the New England Rehabilitation Clinic in Scarborough.


Maine AgrAbility was a topic of discussion at UMaine Extension's Home Horticulture Program Leadership Team (HHPLT) zoom connection on May 21, 2018. Participant Liz Stanley mentioned the good job Ellen Gibson did in presenting a gardening and aging topic. They discussed connecting with AgrAbility to integrate topics into the Master Gardener training curriculum. "We had 45 participants when we began and 50 when it ended, some handicapped [sic]. I really appreciated AgrAbility's contribution and learned a great deal myself." (Liz S.)

Submitted by Lani Carlson