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 Extension
Debuts 2002 Annual Report
Auburn, May 15, 2003 ---
An Autauga County farming family pulled from the brink of financial
ruin by a Cooperative Extension economist is one of the several
intimate portraits of Alabamians featured in the Alabama Cooperative
Extension System’s 2002 Annual Report.
The annual report is one of several ways the Alabama Cooperative
Extension System illustrates how it is adapting to meet the needs of
its diverse clientele. The theme of this year’s report – “Your Experts
for Life” – also has been chosen as the Extension System’s new
organizational slogan.
“It underscores the fact that despite all of the changes that have
occurred since Extension’s beginnings almost a century ago, knowledge
remains the heart and soul of our mission,” says Dr. Gaines Smith,
Alabama Cooperative Extension System interim director. “It is
reflected day after day in the work of hundreds of well-trained,
highly committed Extension experts throughout our state who freely
share their expertise with Alabamians from all walks of life.”
One such Extension expert, farm-business economist Hal Pepper, is
credited with helping an
Autauga
County
farming family save their 100-year-old family farm.
“I once thought that the bigger you are, the better you are,” recalls
Cliff Weedon. “But I learned it’s not how big you are but how well you
manage what you have.”
Based on the business expertise they acquired from Pepper’s financial
counseling, Cliff and his wife, Ruth Ann, eventually decided to get
out of farming entirely and convert their century-old family farm into
a commercial hunting enterprise that they operate with oldest daughter
Wendy. They are also using this expertise to run an equally
successful food distributorship.
Also featured in this year’s report is Debra Glenn, once an insecure
girl growing up in a Birmingham housing project, now a successful
hospital administrator and ordained minister who attributes much of
her lifetime success to Helen Wilson, a Jefferson County Extension 4-H
agent who paid weekly visits to her project to conduct 4-H DOT
(“Diet’s Our Thing”) cooking sessions.
The sense of empowerment and self-mastery Glenn gained from preparing
these “simple, affordable” recipes taught during these sessions
inspired her to complete college, to build a successful career, and to
serve as mentor for girls growing up in similar disadvantaged
backgrounds.
This same sense of self-mastery and empowerment are also reflected in
the profiles of two Shoals-area women who were able to make the
successful transition from welfare to work, thanks to a program
spearheaded by Lauderdale County Extension Agent Lelia Wissert.
Wissert worked with other public and private partners to develop a
training program aimed at helping welfare recipients acquire critical
life skills such as caring for the family, managing car payments and
preparing meals on a tight budget.
“I tell people in similar situations that there is light at the end of
the tunnel,” says Cindy Prince, now working full time and completing
coursework toward a nursing degree at the
University
of Alabama. Another graduate of Wissert’s program, who is also
employed full-time and working toward a degree in computer information
systems at North Alabama, shares her view.
“There’s help out there, but if you don’t help yourself, no one else
will,” says Stefanie Stovall, who has also secured a full-time job
while working toward a degree in computer information systems at North
Alabama.
Extension’s annual report highlights its work within its principal
programming areas: agriculture; forestry, wildlife and natural
resources; urban affairs and new nontraditional programs; family and
individual well-being; community and economic development; and 4-H and
youth development.
“Each of the stories featured in the report is impressive in and of
itself,” Smith says. “But they are equally important in showing how
Extension educators continue to use their expertise and knowledge in
ways that have often had life-changing impact on countless Alabamians
from diverse backgrounds.”
Copies of the 2002 Annual Report are being distributed to key
Extension stakeholders throughout the state. The report is also
available on the Alabama Cooperative Extension System’s Web site:
http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/E/EX-0036-E/EX-0036-E.pdf.
(Source: Dr. Gaines Smith, Alabama Cooperative Extension System
Interim Director, 334-844-4444.)
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