The Minnesota Social Services Association’s (MSSA) Annual Training Conference & Expo is the Midwest’s largest and most comprehensive health and human service conference. Every year, they bring together more than 3,000 health and human service professionals from Minnesota and the surrounding states to advance their knowledge, connect with colleagues, and gather resources to support their work.

MACV was thrilled to have our senior outreach manager, Amanda Hooper, present at this year’s conference in March! She spoke on two different occasions. The first session, “Working Together: Agencies and Social Service Organizations Can Partner to Stop the Homelessness Cycle,”-had over 120 people in attendance and fostered fantastic conversation and collaboration about partnering. This opportunity allowed MACV to connect not just with Veteran homelessness but also to connect community partners and show an example of our partnerships in motion.

“Being able to lead training at community conferences is my favorite part of outreach. It means that I am helping to ensure we work together to service every part of our community to the best of our ability.” -Amanda Hooper

The second session was- “Service Member 101: What You Need to Know about Working with Veterans and Families”. This session had over 40 individuals in attendance and gave those in session the ability to understand the basics of working with military service members. Often the ideas are generalized, and many abbreviations and terms take time to follow.

We are incredibly proud of Amanda Hooper, who attended this year’s March conference to represent MACV and share her valuable insights and knowledge with fellow health and human service professionals. This event gives our team a fantastic platform to network among their peers, learn from one another, gain valuable resources, and further their experience – all while making an incredible impact on the field as a whole. We hope this inspiring event will continue to bring passionate people together year after year!