Tennessee

TN Department of Human Services hosted ResourceAbility Fair for all VR counselors and promoted National Employment Disability Awareness Month. TNAP, Tennessee Beginning Farmer Outreach Program, and Life Essentials exhibited at the fair. Thanks to Bill Begley, Life Essentials, and TN AgrAbility customer Michael Norrod for attending this event. A promotional video of Michael Norrod and his new lift, produced by the Department of Human Services, was debuted. The Fair helped promote partnerships with VR and AgrAbility.

Several farmer veteran/TN AgrAbility customers attended the United We Farm/FVC KY event. One TNAP customer who met other hemp growers and veterans with disabilities told TNAP staff: "You have just put me on track to make a dream come true. Wow, it's been a great day today. Thank you for all you do for the veterans and veterans with disabilities."

TNAP attended the annual three-day Calloway County, KY, safety days for middle and high school students. Over the three-day period there were 440 students in attendance. TNAP staffed the disability awareness station. At this station, students got a little taste of what a person with a disability deals with every day. Other stations dealt with water, crashes, weather, first aid, bullying, livestock, lawn mowers, guns, motion commotion, and skin. The TN AgrAbility station was voted one of most important stations during the event.

TNAP spoke to the Gibson County Adult and Youth Leadership classes on their ag day. The participants enjoyed a day of touring diverse agriculture businesses and farms in Gibson County. There was a total of 35 in attendance. It doesn't matter how many groups AgrAbility staff speaks to or how many exhibits they have at different events or how many news/social media articles they put out, they are always asked: "How does one find out about this program? I have never heard of it. But glad to know there is a program out there like this."

Submitted by Tennessee AgrAbility Project