Michigan

At the annual Champions Ceremony held in Lansing, MI, the Michigan Council of Rehabilitation Services, Michigan Rehabilitation Services, and @Michigan Career and Technical Institute honored the Michigan AgrAbility program as a statewide partner that has demonstrated a strong commitment to empowering individuals with disabilities. Serving farmers and their families so they can continue working and providing for their families is a pleasure. Accepting the award were representatives of Easterseals Michigan (Denise Durkee and Jeff Camboia) and Michigan AgrAbility (Ned Stoller).

Frank Tomack, who farms near Chesaning, helps install and retrofit AT for AgrAbility clients' occupancy. Along with row crops, Frank's family raises twenty acres of pumpkins and gourds with over 270 varieties! Many are heirlooms or rare and come from all over the world where the growing zone is like Michigan's. What began as a 4-H project has opened the gate for another family member to be on the farm. Thank You Frank!

Michigan citizens elected a new governor in 2018 ... and with a new governor comes departmental reorganization. Michigan now has a Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) that houses several state departments, including Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS), which moved from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. With the new LEO comes new websites, including a new MRS webpage. The new webpage has a link for MRS Farm Rehabilitation and highlights the partnership with Michigan AgrAbility; the webpage includes a link to the Michigan AgrAbility webpage to assist individuals looking for assistance.

Submitted by Deb Chester