Pennsylvania

AgrAbility PA is pleased to share a new anthemic video (think overview video with narrator) and three farmer testimonial videos featuring Jim Wright, Dennis & Lori Hunsberger, and Chelsi Shultz. Take a look at all of them on the AgrAbility PA YouTube channel. It's so true...the farmers are the real stars of the show and what make this work meaningful.

AgrAbility PA staffers Kendra Martin and Marci Walborn met with a few hundred occupational therapists, including those from higher education programs for OTs across the state, at the statewide POTA conference, Sept. 28-Oct. 1. The outreach event targeted OTs and those educating OTs in the state to share information and resources about AgrAbility. Roughly two dozen schools requested follow-up presentations to be planned for OT classes.

AgrAbility PA team members met with Andy Bater, a farmer who wears many hats in the agriculture community, to brainstorm about several AgrAbility activities. Andy is a member on the State Board of Directors for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, a State Committee member for the USDA Farm Service Agency in PA, and a member of the Federal Communications Commission Precision Agriculture Task Force. The team was able to share information about AgrAbility and common barriers AgrAbility clients face, and to discuss possible solutions. Discussions included mental health care and physical health care disparities in rural areas, lack of funding solutions for AT, and more. Andy provided a lot of great ideas, took the lead on multiple action items, and has been invited to join the AgrAbility advisory board. This was a great connection - looking forward to future collaborations!

Thanks to NAP for offering some repeats of popular sessions from the 2022 NTW in Wisconsin. Suzanna Windon's presentation, "Managing Stress on the Farm," and Kendra Martin's collaborative presentation with Ohio, Kansas, and Maine, "Making Lemonade When Outreach Events Hand You Lemons," were both featured in September.

Submitted by Kendra Martin