Carlson speaks about Maine AgrAbility for BDN article on goat farm

Lani Carlson, Maine AgrAbility Project coordinator with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, spoke with the Bangor Daily News for an article about how the program helped the owner of Gentle Meadow Goat Farm in Winterport. The Maine AgrAbility program is a nonprofit partnership among UMaine Extension, Goodwill and Alpha One that assists farmers, loggers and fishermen with disabilities and chronic illnesses so they may remain active in production agriculture. “It’s a completely free resource for people working in production agriculture in Maine,” Carlson said. After an initial assessment in which Maine AgrAbility staff visited Shea Rolnick’s farm and observed how she worked, the program helped her implement changes on the farm, according to the article. “It’s a way of developing a life for me that works around my health concerns,” said Rolnick, who has suffered from PTSD and other health issues, such as asthma and muscle spasms, the article states. “She took our ideas and made a beautiful work room in her home for her soap,” Carlson said. “It’s very methodically designed in terms of her work flow.” WGME (Channel 13 in Portland) also carried the report.