State Project Feature: New York AgrAbility Project: New York is Back

The New York AgrAbility Project is back! After a four year hiatus, armed with some returning staff, and new staff as well, New York AgrAbility has been off and running strong since May 2002.

As noted previously, New York applied and was chosen as one of three pilot states for the National AgrAbility Project Self-Employment Assistance Training Project. With funding from this project, New York chose to host a series of self-employment training sessions aimed at empowering AgrAbility clients interested in exploring self-employment opportunities and professionals from systems that provide employment assistance to people with disabilities.

In addition to teaching us more about federal and state employment assistance and benefits programs, our trainer, Cary Griffin of Griffin-Hammis Associates, provided direction to New York staff on developing a Business Development Team (BDT). This team was, for New York AgrAbility, one of the most valuable outcomes of our participation in the training project. Our BDT brings together an extraordinary group of 12 talented, enthusiastic, energetic, and knowledgeable professionals versed in the areas of disability, rehabilitation, benefits planning, and small business planning and development. Through this strong network of individuals, we provide continued professional education in areas relating to disability and self-employment. With AgrAbility clients, the BDT also explores self-employment opportunities to offer them assistance with brainstorming, identifying and accessing resources, and formulating and writing business plans.

The New York AgrAbility Project looks forward to a bright future of providing our clients with the comprehensive and customized services needed to remain or become gainfully self-employed in production agriculture. The New York program has developed and continues to develop a strong network of collaborators with a wide range of expertise, and we pride ourselves on the enthusiasm being created for the New York AgrAbility Project as a result of these collaborations. We plan to continue with our successes in establishing New York AgrAbility as a long-term support program.

New York AgrAbility Project - Contact Information

Eric Hallman emh14@cornell.edu
Holly Cestero hjc26@cornell.edu
Tamie Pushlar tmp29@cornell.edu
Cornell University
777 Warren Road
Ithaca , New York 14850
Toll-free: (877) 257-9777

Patrick O'Hara pohara@nycamh.com
New York Center for Agricultural Medicine & Health
One Atwell Road
Cooperstown , NY 13326
Toll-free: (800) 343-7527

Jane Boyd agnurse@eznet.net
Finger Lakes Occupational Health Clinic
460 East Bluff Drive
Penn Yan , NY 14527
Phone: (585) 256-2338

John H. Ball ballj@onlineimage.com
3027 Lovers Lane
Watkins Glen , NY 14891
Phone: (607) 535-7527

New York AgrAbility Staff

A color photo of the New York AgrAbility staff posing together.
Pictured left to right: Pat O'Hara, Jane Boyd, Tamie Pushlar, Holly Cestero, and Eric Hallman (John Ball is not pictured).

Eric Hallman , Cornell Agricultural Health & Safety Program Director, Agricultural Safety Specialist. Eric has been with Cornell University for 13 years, having worked in various capacities at the university level and in private industry. Eric is the principal investigator for the AgrAbility project, a position he held with the previous AgrAbility grant.

Holly Cestero , New York AgrAbility Case Manager. A resident of the Finger Lakes area of New York State , Holly completed her undergraduate work in Sociology and has a Master of Science degree in Health Education. She has several years of experience working with individuals with disabilities both in educational and human service settings. She began working with the New York AgrAbility Project in May 2003.

Patrick O'Hara , Case Manager. Pat grew up in a large farm family in Otsego County , New York . He graduated from Cornell University School of Agriculture and Life Sciences with a major in agricultural economics. Pat has a Master's degree in Social Work from the State University of New York at Albany and the University College Dublin. He is a Certified Licensed Social Worker with the State of New York .

Jane Boyd , Case Manager. A Certified Occupational Health nurse, Jane was part of the first AgrAbility Project in New York State and is proud to be part of the continuing program. Her medical and disability management skills are helpful to newly disabled farmers trying to heal as well as come to terms with how they are going to cope. Growing up on a small Jersey farm and having a brother in farming also give Jane a farmer's perspective appreciated by her clients.

Tamie Pushlar , Case Manager. A Certified Social Worker, Tamie began working for the New York AgrAbility Project in September 2003. She graduated from Ithaca College with a Bachelor's of Arts degree in Sociology and graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Master's degree in Social Work. Tamie comes to AgrAbility with a personal knowledge of farming.

John Ball , Consultant Occupational Therapist. John has experience in Adult Rehabilitation and Pediatrics. He has been performing agricultural worksite evaluations for the past 14 years.

BACK: Focus – Self-employment

NEXT: References

In This Issue
Section 1: Client Story – Back to the Future: Farming Again Section 2: Focus – Self-employment Section 3: State Project Feature – New York AgrAbility Project	Section 4: References and Resources Section 5: Contacts