Colorado

Over the past few years, Colorado AgrAbility Project has accepted level-one interns to shadow staff and gain experience with being on farms and ranches to observe CO AgrAbility's method of assessment. This year, staff were approached by Creighton University Department of Occupational Therapy through a Regis University Denver OT program, and were offered two interns whom CO AgrAbility was able to accept.

The interns, Conner Gifford and Megan Eiberger, contacted the AgrAbility office to begin the on-boarding process Goodwill requires for interns to be able to travel with staff and observe on-farm practices. Timing is often everything and this time it worked very well. Candy and Jim were able to offer the ladies several onsite visits so that they could observe the differences in approach between Candy and Jim and to see a spectrum of agricultural operations.

CO AgrAbility was fortunate that with Conner and Megan's openness and availability, opportunities were quite broad, and staff were pleased to provide them more than a single in-person site visit. They were able to observe assessment, participate in follow-ups, and tour farm equipment.

Megan and Conner were able to meet with farmers and get some close experience with several farm animals, including newborns. The focus was on mental health, and many area and national resources were shared with the interns. This was a very new experience for these two young women, and they reported they really enjoyed their time and learned from the experience.

Submitted by Jim Craig