Woman hopes trained dogs can assist farmers with disabilities
One day Kristy will open doors, carry pails, close gates and do other farm chores for some disabled northwest farmer. Today the black Labrador shepherd mix opens the door on a new AgrAbility program called the Pets Helping Agriculture in Rural Missouri (PHARM) Dog Project.
Jackie Allenbrand, AgrAbility specialist for Midland Empire Resources for Independent Living (MERIL), started the program from a love of dogs and a desire to help people with disabilities.
“It’s a pilot project. We’re going to see if it actually works and develop a curriculum in the state of Missouri,” Mrs. Allenbrand said. “There are other service organizations out there, but this is the only one that focuses on farmers.”
Mrs. Allenbrand got the name and idea for the innovative program while driving by a friend’s farm one day. She saw the words “The Pharm” carved into a wooden log on the property.
“I thought that would be a good acronym for something,” she said. “I’ve always been a dog lover, so I thought, ‘Well, I work with farmers with disabilities. How could I incorporate that?’ So I thought of pets helping agriculture in rural Missouri.”
Mrs. Allenbrand, a farm wife herself, was awarded a $25,000 grant from the Institute for Human Development at the University of Missouri-Kansas City for the program. The goal of the program is to work with a focus group of farmers with disabilities in developing a curriculum. Once developed, the hope is that the program will be incorporated into the national AgrAbility Program. The AgrAbility Program helps farmers, family members and farm workers with disabilities live and work independently on their farms through a variety of resources.
“My ultimate goal is to help people,” Mrs. Allenbrand said. “A dog can help them do their daily work, but also give them that sense of ‘Hey, I can go out there. I don’t need anybody to help me do this. I got my buddy.’”
Mrs. Allenbrand currently takes Kristy around to school and farm organizations to demonstrate the service.
For more information on the PHARM Dog Project, call Mrs. Allenbrand at 279-8558 or (800) 242-9326, ext. 126 or e-mail her at JackieA@meril.org.
Alonzo Weston can be reached
at alonzow@npgco.com.
There are no comments. Click here to start the discussion.
Story Tools
Hyperlink Legend
E-mail story
Print friendly version
iPod friendly version
Today's Top Headlines
Youths fuel interest in local history exhibits
Welfare Board finds big savings
Professor digs deep to uncover Missouri’s past
Teacher, student among magazine's 'heroes'
Helping the needy
- More Headlines
- Recently Discussed
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them.
Rules: We don't allow comments that degrade others on the basis of gender, race, class, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation or disability. Epithets, abusive language and obscene comments will not be tolerated... nor will defamation. Brief quotes are okay as long as the source is given. Blatent cutting and pasting is not acceptable.Robust, even heated debate we like. Straying off-topic or flaming, we don't. Please read our user agreement.
Requires free stjoenews.net registration.