National AgrAbility Project

AgrAbility Regional Workshop
AgrAbility's next Regional Workshop will be held in Manhattan, Kansas, November 16-18, 2021. Registration is open! Find more information and the link to register on the NAP website under Other Trainings or click here. This workshop will cover topics on suicide prevention, help for farmers in crisis, veterans, VR, business planning, and tips for working smarter not harder. Staff hope to see you in Kansas.

Anyone interested in hosting a Regional Workshop in conjunction with Goodwill and NAP, please contact Tess tmckeel@goodwillfingerlakes.org or JoBeth jbrath@goodwillfingerlakes.org.

2022 NTW will be in person in Madison, WI!!!!
2022 NTW planning is in full swing. The dates are March 14-17. There have been a couple of planning meetings by Zoom and the planning committee will continue to meet on the third Thursday of the month at 3 p.m. ET. Session proposals are due October 11th, so get your proposals in now. The Google Form version of each of these is at the following links: Call for Presentations Google form; Call for Posters Google form; Exhibitor-Sponsor Google form. Anyone preferring a printable copy of these forms can find them on the NAP website on the NTW page. Davon Goodwin has agreed to be the Keynote Speaker. Read a little bit about Davon HERE.

Please start reaching out to anyone that might want to be a vendor or sponsor, or send Tess their information. Also, start thinking about your state raffle baskets and auction items. Both of these activities help us to bring farmer clients to the NTW.

Anyone wanting to join the Planning Committee or who has any questions about the NTW, contact Tess at tmckeel@goodwillfingerlakes.org.

Submitted by Goodwill of the Finger Lakes

Chuck Baldwin, National AgrAbility Project's underserved populations outreach coordinator, spoke September 21st to the first International Mobility Device Provision and Distribution conference in Columbia, Missouri. Roughly 50 people from across the USA and from several African and Latin American countries attended the conference.

The need for such a conference was pushed by statistics from FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), the World Bank, and others that show that 80% of people with disabilities live in low-income countries; the number of people with disabilities globally will double by 2050; 70 million people need wheelchairs globally; less than 5% of those in need have access to a wheelchair.

The conference was hosted by Mobility Worldwide (https://mobilityworldwide.org/ ), a Christian non-profit organization serving the needs of people with mobility deficiencies in developing countries. Speakers included professionals in every aspect of mobility for the physically impaired, including:

• Dr. Jon Pearlman, PhD, Director, International Society of Wheelchair Professionals
• Dr. Amos Winter, PhD, MIT & Inventor of the Leveraged Freedom Chair
• Don Schoendorfer, Founder, Free Wheelchair Mission
• Karen Rispin, Project Manager, Assistive Technology Catalyst Project
• Eric Wunderlich, Manager Disabilities Program, Latter-day Saint Charities
• Mark Richard, Founder, Beeline Wheelchairs
• Michael Panther, Founder, Living with Hope
• Ibrahim Bangura, Director, Mobility Sierra Leon
• Mel West, Founder, Mobility Worldwide

Chuck presented a brief introduction to AgrAbility and AgrAbility's current outreach to countries outside of the United States, then shared how and why AgrAbility would make an excellent partner to any mobility organization serving people with disabilities in developing nations. His primary point was that, while mobility organizations can open the door to a wider world for those who can't walk, AgrAbility can help with the next step of helping those clients become more productive and self-sufficient in agricultural pursuits for the sake of their own life, their families, and their communities.

Submitted by Chuck Baldwin