Northern New England AgrAbility Project
Helping New England agricultural workers with disabilities
continue to work on the farm and in the forest!
- Overview
- Disability Prevalence and Type in Northern New England
- Agriculture in Northern New England
- Services Available at No Cost to Farm Families
- Contact Information
Overview
The Northern New England AgrAbility Project is a partnership with the University of Vermont, University of New Hampshire, University of Maine Cooperative Extensions, and ATECH Services, a non-profit disability organization. The Cooperative Extensions and ATECH are committed to supporting farm families affected by a disability to be productive and successful in agriculture.
Disability Prevalence and Type in Northern New England
Over 9,000 farm families in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine are affected by a disability. According to national AgrAbility statistics, 32% of those acquired their disability as a result of a farm-related accident, 24% due to non-farm related accidents and 44% due to other disabling conditions.
The types of disabilities that agricultural producers experience include: back injuries, arthritis, vision impairments, neuromuscular impairments, hearing loss, spinal cord injuries, cognitive impairments, amputations, mental illness, and others.
Agriculture in Northern New England
In addition to dairy farming, New England agricultural workers participate in a diversity of occupations ranging from blueberry and potato farming, logging, orchard management, maple syrup production, and Christmas tree farming. New Englanders also produce vegetables, poultry, herbs, llamas, emus, replacement heifers, and a host of many more specialty agricultural operations.
The traditional family farm operation is highly dependent upon the family working together for a common goal of taking care of the land, livestock, buildings, and crops. Regardless of who acquires the disability on the farm or in the forest, the entire family and farm operation is impacted. AgrAbility is able to assist families in overcoming disability challenges.
Services Available at No Cost to Farm Families Include:
- Assessing agricultural tasks and providing guidance to accommodate for the disability.
- Evaluating agricultural worksites and equipment and making suggestion or modifications.
- Researching commercially available products to enable farm tasks to be completed easier.
- Identifying ways to prevent secondary injury and illnesses.
- Coordinating needed information, community resources and referrals to services.
- Coordinating peer support and other resource networks.
- Conducting training and workshops for rehabilitation and agricultural professionals.
Contact Information
New Hampshire
Therese Willkomm, Rural AT Consultant
twillkomm@nhaat.mv.com
Sue Shaw, Rural Rehabilitation Specialist
sshaw@nhaat.mv.com
Maine
Jane Bell, Rural Rehabilitation Specialist
Maineagrability@nhaat.mv.com
Vermont
Brett Chornyak, Vocational Rehabilitation
Coordinator, Rural and Farm Family
Vocational Rehabilitation Program
University of Vermont
655 Spear Street
Burlington, VT 05405-0107
Phone: 802-656-5416
FAX: 802-656-5422
brett.chornyak@uvm.edu
ATECH Services
117 Pleasant Street
Dolloff Building, 2nd Floor
Concord, NH 03301
Phone: 603-226-2900
FAX: 603-226-2907
This material is based upon work supported by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under agreement No. 2003-41590-01575. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.