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March 2021

California

California AgrAbility staff attended the Monthly RISE Collaborative via Zoom. Staff presented on their activities and their upcoming event to educate promotores on vaccinations, especially for rural communities. Attendees included representatives from the International Rescue Committee, Empower Yolo, District 4 Board of Supervisors, and Esparto Community Medical Centers. RISE presented a new promotora on their team who will be doing outreach at vaccination clinics held at farms. The International Rescue Committee is an organization that serves victims of human trafficking and the organization has added a representative to focus on farmworker communities.


Slide of the 4 Quadrants of Time Management - each in a square with the headings Urgent-Not Urgent-Important-Not Important.Staff attended the third session of the AgrAbility National Training Workshop, "21 Tools and Strategies to Working Smarter not Harder," led by Kelly Gagnon with Grit HQ. Kelly provided a time management tool called the Four Quadrants of Time Management. This is an organizational tool that helps professionals restructure their days so that they are spending more time on important projects and less time on projects or tasks that are neither important nor urgent. Kelly also provided guidance on other time management strategies such as the Pomodoro Method, time blocking, and batch work. She emphasized the importance of minimizing distractions by establishing routines. Lastly, Kelly spoke about establishing a project management system as a sort of virtual to-do list that would allow all team members to track progress and projects could be assigned appropriately.


Stressors and Resources for Farm & Ranch Families with Disabilities Webinar showing screenshot of blue slide saying - Be careful out there. Take good care of yourselves!California AgrAbility attended the "Stressors and Resources for Farm/Ranch Families with Disabilities" NAP & FRSAN webinar presented by North Central Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Center. Panelists included Carey Portell a farmer from Saint James, MO, and Dr. Robert Fetsch with Colorado Agrability. Carey is a farmer living with a disability and has used farming as a means of recovery. Through the help of family, her physical therapist, and Missouri AgrAbility, she has been able to learn techniques that have allowed her to return to farming. Dr. Fetsch followed with a presentation on the top stressors farm and ranch families face. He emphasized the factors that contribute to stress among farmers and ranchers and their families. Moreover, Dr. Fetsch explained that suicide rates among white male farmers and ranchers are among some of the highest compared to other professions.


Promotores COVID-19 Vaccination Informational Webinar screenshot of Zoom window with PowerPoint slide in Spanish.California AgrAbility staff hosted the Encuentro de Promotores: VacunaciĆ³n para COVID-19 event presented by Puentes Network. Yolo County Agricultural Program Coordinator Esmeralda Garza briefly spoke about services offered by the county for those who would like to register for the COVID-19 vaccine, who are ill with COVID-19 and may need assistance, or who may need a safe place to quarantine. Oscar Velasco, coordinator for the Ventanilla de Salud program in the Mexican consulate, briefly discussed the partnership with Elica Health Centers and the UC Davis Orale project to administer COVID-19 tests and flu vaccinations. Jaime Lopez of Winters Healthcare gave detailed information about the COVID-19 vaccine, including how it works and who can receive it, followed by a question and answer session. The meeting closed with testimonials about the vaccine from promotores in attendance.

Submitted by Sara Wat