By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH
Indiana Correspondent DECATUR, Ind. — Steve Redelman wants what a lot of people want. He wants to make a living, to support himself and his wife and to own a farm.
His goals have been stymied by people who don’t want to work with him, possibly because he’s disabled, Redelman and his wife, Peggy, said.
“Being handicapped and trying to run a farming business, well, people shy away from you,” he said. “Every time I go out, I feel like I’m being kicked in the head. I can’t get ahead.”
Redelman was born with cerebral palsy, which has left him with disabilities including a speech impediment.
“I’ve got the education and I can be of value to farmers,” he said. “I can help them check the soil to see what their ground needs to get their crops to grow better. Even when I wasn’t farming, I still kept my roots in it.”
Redelman grew up in Decatur County, in southern Indiana, where his father, Ralph, and Ralph’s two brothers, farmed.
“They taught me everything I know now, though I’ve picked up other things here and there,” he said. “I learned everything I know from my dad and uncles. Farming was my first passion.”
His parents died about six months apart. “After they died, anyone who understood his disability, and who was a support system for him, was gone,” Peggy said.
Since moving to Adams County in 2002, he has started a company, Farm Solutions. He’s a representative for such seed companies as Campbell, Rupp and Brodbeck. He sells fertilizer for AGGRAND, and Blue River organic seed corn. He sells Crown batteries and eZall Total Body Wash for livestock, dogs and cats. He hauls livestock and hay.
Redelman previously owned a landscaping company for 20 years. A trip to bid on a landscaping project in Vevay, Ind., left him wondering why he didn’t get the winning bid.
He and a friend decided to bid together on landscaping for a casino project along the Ohio River, and had a meeting with a representative about the bid and the project.
“I stuck my right hand out, he shook my hand and immediately wiped his hand,” he said. “When we left, he wouldn’t shake my hand.
“I don’t know if we didn’t get the winning bid because of me or because our price was too high.”
Working with the local Amish community in Adams County has left him with similar frustrations, Peggy said.
“It’s not working out with the Amish,” she said. “They don’t want to pay him what he asks. They were taking advantage of him because he’s so kind-hearted.”
They said they lost their home in 2005 when monthly mortgage payments rose sharply. They’ve spoken with several agencies in Decatur and the county about help, to no avail.
Helping farmers with disabilities is often difficult for the farmers and for those trying to provide assistance, said Steve Swain, rural rehabilitation specialist and outreach coordinator for Breaking New Ground. The program provides information and technology to farmers and family members so they can continue in production agriculture.
“I don’t think it’s all that unusual for disabled farmers to have difficulties,” Swain said. “And for potential employers, liability is a big concern, as is insurance.”
Of Indiana’s 70,000-75,000 farmers or farm workers, 15-20 percent could have some form of disability, Swain said. His client list is about 500.
“It’s difficult for us to identify people to assist, because many think, ‘I can’t wait on somebody else to help me. I’ve got a timetable to get things done,’” he said. “If they’ve got planting to do and don’t feel well, they can’t wait until they feel better. If they don’t do it, it doesn’t get done.”
Breaking New Ground, a part of Purdue University’s extension program, is funded through the USDA. Farmers with disabilities ranging from arthritis to back pain to spinal cord injuries are served by the program, Swain said. Program officials will make free farm visits to offer suggestions and advice.
Additional services are available through the state’s Vocational Rehabilitation Services under the Family and Social Services Administration. If a farmer qualifies, the vocational rehabilitation program will pay for such items as a wheelchair lift or hand controls for machinery, Swain said.
Twenty-one states have similar programs funded through the USDA, and other states have programs funded differently. Indiana’s program, started in 1979, is designated a national training project, meaning farmers in states without a program may contact the Indiana office for help, Swain said.
The Redelmans said they just want to farm, something Steve has done since he was 14.
“He just wants a chance to make a living for himself and his family, like everyone else,” Peggy said.
The couple would like to find a farm they can rent, Redelman said.
“We’re looking for a permanent home for us, our business and our animal friends,” he said. “We want a place where we can move and keep everything on one property, to keep our horses and trailers.
“I want to make a living doing what I want to do. I want to have my own farm before I’m too old to do anything. I can grow anything. I can drive anything. I can do farming.”
For more information on Breaking New Ground, call 800-825-4264 or visit www.breakingnewground.info |
