The National Service Coordinator Conference is the largest gathering of supported affordable housing professionals in the country!

This year's confererence was held August 23-26, 2026 in Austin, TX.

The power of conferences. From nervous first-timers to seasoned presenters, real transformation happens when people connect and learn, especially in housing and service coordination.

Here are some voices from the conference!

Our Mission

Advancing national standards of practice for service coordination by amplifying the voice of our members.

Our Vision

We are committed to enhancing service coordination through leadership, professional development, advocacy, and partnerships.

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Copyright 2026 American Association of Service Coordinators

All right, so today I'm going to be sitting here with Dee Amundson. Did I

say that right? Yes. Perfect. And we're, we're at our

2026 National Service Coordinator Conference in Austin, Texas.

Yep. It is extremely hot, but inside it is not so

bad. Yes. And you have been coming to the ASK Conference as an

attendee for how long? 15 years. 15 years. So where was your

very first conference at? Florida. Florida? Mine too. back in 2003.

Yours was in 2011. Yes. So Orlando? Yes. Yeah? Yes.

And how did you feel at that very first conference? I was a little nervous

because I'd never been to one before, but all of the people that had been

there previously were like coming up to me and introducing themselves and

like, come join us for a meal, come join us at, you know, this table.

And so it never really felt out of place or alone. That's good. And

you were— how long had you been a service coordinator when you were there?

I would say about 7 months. So you're

pretty new. Pretty new. Yeah. So 15 years,

and you have been presenting for ASK then for quite a

while as well, right? Yes, this will be my 10th year. 10th year of presenting.

And you don't usually just do one presentation either, do you? No, I usually try

to do 2. My record is 4. 4? In a

single conference. Yeah. That's incredible.

So the very first time, so you'd been coming for 5 years and then you

decided, hey, I think I could present like everyone else. Tell me about that process.

Well, to be fair, I was more voluntold. It's the best way to do it,

right? So my boss said that this would be a good experience. And

so my very first discussion was on the

difficulties surrounding hoarding behavior. And we had the biggest room

at the conference. We had the ballroom. It was like full house. They kept turning

people away. I was a nervous wreck right before then.

And then every year since, it's just been so much easier. So that was back

in 2016, probably, right? That you did the first hoarding presentation.

And most of the time you do hoarding, right? That's one of the topics you've

done very frequently. I think I've done it twice. You've only done it twice, really?

Okay. I know that it's memorable. That's what I do know. I know that people

talk about your hoarding presentation quite often.

And so when you chose to present on hoarding, when You're

voluntold. Talk to me a little bit about what made you want to

choose that topic and what made you confident enough to

create a presentation around that topic. Yeah, that's where the voluntold came from because they

created it. They told you this is a topic that you— okay. And

so I did have a little bit of a hand in the presentation PowerPoint, but

for the most part, they had all the data, and so I just had to

kind of put it together. Okay. And so that was a great learning lesson. And

then so what was your next presentation that you did? That was not voluntold?

Um, I think it was the conflict and conflict resolution. Okay.

That was the first one that I ever researched completely by myself, put together a

presentation, and then came here. Um, was also a full house of

a classroom. Was a little, little nervous when I first started, and then

just seeing the light bulb that people have when they get a connection

just makes it so worth it. So I've presented for a long time too. Um,

I'm curious though, from From a process standpoint,

I would assume that very first year since it wasn't really your material

and it was something you were presenting on behalf of somebody else's thought process. Mmhmm.

Talk to me a little bit about what it's like when you're standing in front

of a full room. How do you manage a presentation? How

do you— because a lot of people, I guess my question is more about like,

you know, a lot of people we see just have a natural

conversational type of presenting style, and I think you are one of those.

So how do you create a presentation to be able to just have that conversation?

I think it's important to pick a topic that you are comfortable with or passionate

about. You don't have to know much about it to be very passionate. I think

the important thing is to, when you're doing the research, is to find things

that are interesting and, you know, kind of those like niche

data topics. And then getting in front of the audience is kind of playing off

of them, right? So if they're active and engaging, then I'm more active and

engaging. And I think when you

do the research yourself, you know it. And so you don't have to put everything

in the PowerPoint and then you get to have that more of a conversation rather

than like, let me read these slides to you that you can see from the

back of the room. Right, right, right. Yeah, I think that that's one of the

best parts of a presentation for me anyway. It's like when I create one

and then I know that, you know, I'm just gonna go up there and talk

about what I think I know or I do know, right? Like it's

about doing the research or even just living every day as a service coordinator and

the things you experience. and the research you've done

naturally in that role that gives you the confidence to go in front and,

and then just have a conversation with, you know, hundreds of your peers, right? Right.

And if you can just see them all as that, and

this is just a conversation for me anyway, and I would assume for you because

you keep coming back and you keep presenting and people just completely love your

sessions, I would imagine that it— you can just kind

of put yourself in a room with other folks who are just like you,

right? Yeah, yeah. I love these conferences because you get to meet new people,

then you network, and then, you know, they have questions afterwards. Or like,

I've had a couple people come up after a presentation and ask a question. I'm

like, oh, that's a great topic for next year, right? Let me make one and

then come to that class next year. And so a few of them have been

like, I think that was my idea and I appreciate you doing that. Yeah, so

it's very much a community and a collection. Yeah. What's your favorite presentation you've done

here? My favorite one had to have been last year,

which was You Are Not Captain Save-a-Resident, how to apply

ethics. It was great. So that is a notorious

presentation. I was doing a podcast interview. I

don't know if you've heard this one, but you should go listen because you got

a special shout out. And the individual I was

interviewing, and I would say who it is, but I don't want to mess it

up. So I know that it was a podcast conversation. And

the individual said that that was the

most powerful presentation they'd ever attended,

and they wished that they would have had it from the very beginning. And so

I was like, that is incredible. And it's not the first person that I've seen

communicate about that. And in our Ask community, I've seen people talk about that

presentation. So you should be very proud of that

presentation. I am. And the impact it's had on our

What are you presenting about this year? I'm doing 2 different trainings.

I'm doing a co-presentation with another

individual on hoarding. Okay. And then I'm

also doing— I don't remember the title off the top of my head. It's the

how attachment styles show up in affordable housing and resident services. Okay. Talk to

me a little bit more about that attachment styles. Yeah. So a lot of times

kids get this attachment style from a young age. If they have like a safe

space to grow up in, then they are able to show their

emotions and they can be angry and kind of process through that. Sometimes it's not

always the case, or there may be some trauma that happened, you know,

lots of moves or lots of new schools or something of that nature. But that

doesn't go away as we get older. So how we sometimes behave as a child

kind of moves into adulthood. And so this training is showing that it

is possible to unlearn some of those behaviors. Okay. And so if

you have a resident who is like constantly coming into your office and they're constantly

looking for reassurance and they're asking the same question 100 different times, It may not

be that they can't remember that they've asked you. It could be that they're just

looking for that connection and want to ensure that you're still going to be there

and still a safe space for them. And so the more you do that, the

more comfortable they get, and then the less time they come into your office for

just those random, like, say hellos. Right. That's really incredible.

Did you learn that— not learn. Did you hear that as a topic

last year when somebody had a question, or is it something you've kind of been

noodling on for quite a while? It was something that came up at my new

current position, was I had an individual who was behaving just like that. Yeah. And

constantly coming. I couldn't figure out why. And so when I started doing research into

attachment styles, I was like, oh, that explains a lot. That's

awesome. So career-wise, you've been a service coordinator

for how long? Since 2011. So 15

years. 15 and a half. Okay. And were you straight out of college when you

became a service coordinator? I'm going to be honest, I didn't know service coordination existed

until I applied for the job. Right. Yeah. All right. So what's your college degree

in? Sociology with a minor in psychology.

Nice. I like that. And so do you feel like,

you know, this career, do you feel like it's your lifelong kind of passion,

your vocation? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I tried stepping away and it did not work

well. It was like 3 months. Yeah. And then you dismissed it? Yeah. I was

like, I need to be a service coordinator again. Yeah. So currently you work in

a property with how many residents? I have 105 when we're at full

capacity. Okay. And then do you also do supervisory work now? I am a lead

SC, so I do oversee the compliance and the mentorship for

my other colleague. I'm at a very small organization. There's only 19 total. So

it's just me and her. So she has a building, I have a building,

and being able to like teach her and coach her and walk her through certain

things and then like watch her go out on a limb and just like try

new things is being able to see the other side of the conference.

You know, she comes, learns a class, and then she applies it at her job.

Is this the first time you've had that kind of a lead role? No, this

will be my second position with this style. It's

much more hands-on because we're across the street from each other rather than separated by

state lines. Yeah. Cool. I'm glad she's here with you.

Yeah. So out of all of the conferences you've

been coming to, where was your favorite location?

Ooh. I had a lot of fun in D.C.

Yeah. We've gone— I've gone here to D.C. 3

times since I started, and each time I get to go tootle around and do

other things. Yeah. Yeah. Do you do Advocacy Day when you go? I don't. I

haven't, unfortunately. Yeah. Okay. Maybe in the future. We're going to go back to D.C.

every 4 years so that we can continue to do that advocacy. And I will

mark it on my calendar. You will. I will make sure to reach out to

you specifically. Awesome. I do love D.C. It's interesting

being in the role that I'm in, getting to kind of look at the landscape

and see, you know, where haven't we gone, where should we go? And we plan

these out into the future pretty significantly.

But being in Austin, Texas has been really cool. And I think our

members have really been excited about this location. So I'm excited to see what

this week brings. And I'm really excited to hear how your

presentations go. And I'm so, so happy you're here once

again. And I assume we'll see you for many, many years to come as well.

Absolutely. All right, great. Thank you, Dee, so much. Thanks, Michelle.

All right. I am sitting here with my dear friend, Jen

Bechtel from The Ohio State University. I can't say all of

the different College of Medicine, Office of Geriatrics and Gerontology. I got it

right. Look at me. You did. And it's so long. I know. I'm sorry. So

we are at the 2026 National Service Coordinator Conference. Yep. And not

only are you an incredible partner of ours, but you're also an exhibitor. And so

I wanted to spend some time talking about your experience as an exhibitor at our

conference, what continues to bring you back, what you love the most about being an

exhibitor, and all things conference. So— Absolutely, Michelle. I

think for me, one of the best things about being able to be part of

the exhibit day is because I finally get to put faces with names

and seeing the energy that each of the service

coordinators bring. And when they're coming up to the table and

yes, They like the stuff. And I think next year I'm pretty much going to

make them say trick or treat because it feels like that. It does. But it's

a great opportunity to get to talk to them. And again, when I

see those names and I know I've been talking to them via

email for months, it just— it makes it full circle for me.

I would venture to guess that the majority of the people who are coming to

your booth, while the trinkets and the giveaways are wonderful

and it's like an adult version of trick or treat, you're not wrong. But they're

coming to see you. They're coming to see you because they value what you're doing

for their profession. They value what you bring, and they're excited.

I mean, we saw that this morning at the PSC Confirmation Ceremony.

So we are so excited and proud of,

you know, all of the PSC graduates. Yeah. Everyone who shows up to this conference

and is honored in that way, but all the folks who are excited to

become a PSC, right? And so I would imagine a lot of those conversations that

you're having at the booth, Yeah. Are exploratory, right, in nature? Yeah, definitely.

Because it's one of those that they're like, wait a minute, I've heard about this.

Yeah. But what is it? Right. And why should I— why should it matter

to me? And I think that's one of the things that I always love to

tell people is like, if you care and

want to spend more time in this industry, you've got to invest in

yourself to give yourself the skills to succeed because you are

dealing with so much more these days especially, and you're

asked to be that dot connector for everyone in your community.

And you can't do that if you don't know what dots exist out there for

you. Right. And how to navigate that. And that's exactly what it is. It's

navigating a broken system, and you really need to

have unique education that meets that system of

what is possible. And I think that's what's so great about this partnership

that we have with ASC that I love. Because we can tailor

the education to the skills that apply to them directly. Right. So

even, you know, when I was talking with a few of them, they're like, well,

why should I? What should I get out of it? Am I going to be

able to apply something directly? I'm like, absolutely.

That's what the whole program is designed to be. And for

those that are lifelong learners, but

it might be, Service coordination might be their second

career in their life. And when they hear the exam and

they're like, oh my gosh, I've never taken— I haven't taken an exam for 20

years. Right. My job is to settle those nerves, make them

understand why it matters. And this morning, one

of the individuals that received it, I had coached her for the last

3 months about why it matters, to say, we're here

to guide you through it. You've got this. And when she

earned that and submitted her score, tears

just flowed. I was gonna say, there were tears in your eyes this morning. I

saw them. But it might not be the first time I've seen those tears at

a conference like this. No, because you get to know those— Because you're proud. I

am proud. I am. It's one of those, because those that really

invest in the time for the program and in themselves,

when they earn that designation, my God, like, I feel like I've

got all over the country because you are proud of them. Right. Because they,

they put in the work and they deserve the credit. And they are investing in

themselves. They're putting that effort back inside of themselves. They're

saying, I am enough. Yep. That was a big message this week.

And they believe in their ability to do it.

And if they don't, if they're doubting themselves, I think they've got a pretty good

cheerleader. I consider myself an aura fluffer. You do? Heck yeah. A

what? An aura fluffer. Aura fluffer. I love it. I've never heard that. Oh, I

love fluffing auras. Oh my goodness, that is fantastic. Because all

you hear so many times is what you don't do well

and like you're not enough. And so it's kind of

like, no, this is the chance to say, yeah, you matter. And

why not do it for yourself? Were you in the general session yesterday

morning, Monday morning? I was not. Oh, okay. So

Justin Michael Williams sang a song. I heard he was quite

energetic. And the whole song, was I am enough, and

then we had to do hands that says you're a golden baby, and you had

to do it to your neighbor. And so as you're speaking, I'm just thinking of

you saying that you are enough, you are a golden baby,

and I'm doing the hand motions. Aww, I'm gonna get that song now. Yeah,

it's good if you go to his Instagram. Okay. Plug it. Yeah, because on the

days that, you know— If you go to, um, the service

coordinator Instagram, you can find connection to his. But yeah.

Absolutely. But it is, that's what you're doing. That's what you are doing. And you're

100% right that when you're here in the booth and folks are

coming and they see your face and it matches the voice. Yeah. And we were

just— Tina and I were talking earlier about that, is the funniest and the

greatest thing is when you talk to somebody on the phone for so long and

you create this vision of what you think they look like, and then you meet

them. And it's not a negative thing, but it's Not at all what you thought

that person was going to look like. And you're like, oh, that's you. Okay. Exactly.

And then there are some you get that vision and you're like, you are exactly

who I thought you were. And you hug it out the minute that you see

them. It's like the craziest human experience. Yeah, I

love it. I love everything about that. Yep. And I know that they love seeing

you here too. And I will say there is a huge interest in

the PSC and you are putting in a heck of a lot of work. to

continue to improve it. And so I don't know if you want to talk a

little bit about the improvements that you shared this morning. We have been working

so hard this past year behind the scenes creating a

new website that will house the PSC program,

an entirely new platform that we are working on this week.

And so I feel like a proud parent and a scared newbie at the same

time as we're making that transition, but This

past year, we've been making sure the content meets the demand of what is

going on in our ever-changing world and climate to be able to

just say, okay, what resources do they need to be able to

navigate that? And creating opportunities. If there are some

organizations that don't want to put the financial

investment for the full program right away, that's why we created the

bundle series for like a microcredential. Nice. So if you wanna focus in

on mental health, you can do that with this bundle series. And being able

to create those pathways, it's not different content because they're

all still part of the same PSC program, but chunking it out in

opportunities that give them that micro-certification is a great way

for them to kind of build that confidence in that interim piece. And then

we're also really excited to be able to— the continuing education

platform with our Topics in Gerontology, which are continuing

education modules that you can do to maintain your PSC designation.

Mm-hmm. We've launched a new platform for that as well, so there's

been a lot of new stuff going on there. All 31 modules are

now available in new

opportunities that they have with integration, and

the— our instructional designers at Ohio State have been really

into this project and making it bring it more to life

with some of the content. Mm-hmm. So we're really excited to see see what happens.

And then now that we've launched that particular one,

for the first part of 2027, we're going to be creating a new mental health

series as part of that topic. So important. It is. And there's just so

much— I'm privileged to work with my director who's a

neurogeropsychologist and such a passionate changemaker

that wants to give the service coordinators the

resources that they need and do it in ways that are

going to make a real impact. I love it. Go Bucks! Go Bucks!

O-H-I-O! I will say that you are a—

you have— you definitely have people, you, as you said, your director and the

instructional design team, but you are a one-woman show for the most part, right?

I am. Yep. I like to say I get

1.1 in my office. I'm the one. Dr. Gwynn

is the 0.1, because, you know, I get a percentage of his time.

But yeah, I'm a one-woman show. And it's one of

those that because I feel so passionate about making

a difference, and that's all I've ever wanted to do is to try and make

it easier for other people. That's why I'm getting my MSW myself

right now. So proud of you. Thanks. You can say that in 2 more

semesters. You're gonna get it. So, so in that respect, it's just a

way to kind of continue to pay it forward, but lead by example too. Yeah.

I was going to say, if they can do their

continuing education and continue to invest in themselves,

it's only right that you continue to invest in yourself. Absolutely. I guess I need

to go get my degree, huh? There you go. Another degree? Why not? Maybe I

should get my PSC. Oh, we should do it at the same time.

Let's do it. Let's challenge each other. By next year, you and I are both

PSCs. Okay. All right, deal. You guys heard it here. Next year, we're going to

walk across the stage and give ourselves pins. Hey, nice. I'll shake your hand. You

shake mine. Yeah, I love it. Thank you so much, Jen. My pleasure. Always,

always a blast having you here. And they love it. I appreciate you guys so

much. I appreciate you too. All

right.

I'm sitting here with WellCare's Kyle Pitts,

the 2026 National Service Coordinator Title Sponsor. I'm so

happy to have you here today. Thank you so much, Michelle. I'm happy to be

here. Happy to be at ASK again. Yeah. How many years have you guys been

coming to ASK? 4 years. 4 years. You know, when

they were asking, though, you were asking how many people have been here 1

year, 2 years. And I'm like, we've been, you know, it feels more like a

reunion now, more so than just coming as a sponsor. I'm like, I see so

many familiar faces and, you know, it's just really great. I'm always like,

oh, there, I know you. I know you. Yeah. You've been here since the beginning

too. Yes. You personally. Yeah. Right? You were here the very first year. Where was

the first conference? Was it D.C. that you were at the very first time? National

Harbor, I think it was. You were in National Harbor. Okay. Yeah, that was our

first. It was right around post-COVID too, I think. So first one

post-COVID. So you were in it with all of us and figuring out how to

navigate that world. Yeah, absolutely. You know, it was

challenging on our own end, but no, you know, since that

first year, it just really, you know, we came to learn just,

you know, one, talk about WellCare a little bit, but learn more about the service

coordinator role. And then obviously we've just stayed since Yeah. You know,

learning what service coordinators do, what they need, how many things

they juggle all the time each year. We've found we're like,

well, let's get back because I feel like we have— it's a perfect fit

for us and for them to kind of, you know, take some of that burden

off their shoulders every bit in any way we can. Yeah. And you guys

sponsoring every year really helps create an event that is

not only meaningful, filled with education for the service

coordinators, but is also fun. Yeah. So talk to me a little bit about

some of your favorite things about being a sponsor. What are the things that you

walk home, you go home after this and you're like, man, that was so fun?

Well, first off, just talking to everybody. I mean, the interactions with

everybody. There's always so much excitement. And I always

joke because I'm like, the one complaint we'll get most of the times is just

the states that we're not in. Yeah. And people will be like, why aren't you

here yet? Why aren't you in Maryland? Or why aren't you in Colorado? I'm like,

I wish we're just, you know, we're just not there yet. But

that, and I just love curating the event to where it's going to

be, you know, make the most sense for the service coordinator. So,

you know, finding that perfect giveaway, like this year it was 100 degrees in Austin

and we had little fans. Perfect. Worked out. And then our little

craft room that we did to kind of showcase some of the events that we

can bring to the community. That was such a hit because people are like, It's

just nice to be in this quiet space. And we're like, yeah, and we keep

it very casual. You got the fans running the entire time? Oh

yeah, it's nice and the AC's blasting in there. So it's been great.

I'll never forget one of the first times

that you guys— I think that was in DC. I don't remember much about Anaheim,

but I think personally just because it was such a chaotic first event back.

But I remember in DC and you guys had your booth

And you were front and center and everyone

came out of general session and you guys were giving away cookies, I think.

And I can't remember what else was there, but it was you and Allie. And

anyway, you were bombarded. You guys went through all

of your giveaways in record time. And yes,

we learned some, we learned some real lessons that time. And not to

say that we have not done other conferences. you know, consider ourselves pretty

much experts on, you know, doing things like this. We were not—

we were not ready. We, you know, it was like a swarm of locusts

just coming and, you know, everything was gone. And we were just, you know, our

boxes were in shambles everywhere. And we're like, we need to get more things. We're

like, what just happened? Yeah, I remember walking over to you guys and you're like,

what was that? That was amazing. That was incredible. These people

are amazing. And we had so many good conversations. And but now we have it

down to a science. Like, pace the giveaways and, you know, bring them things. And

they know, they know that if they come to the WellCare booth, because you're

everywhere, you're everywhere in this event, you are embedded in this event, and they're so

appreciative and they're so grateful. And we're so appreciative of all your support over the

years. And we hope that we continue to have it as years come. Yeah, absolutely.

And we love this partnership. You know, it's just an investment

into this partnership, you know, on top of this event, you know, all the work

we do throughout the year, whether it's on-site virtual presentations,

you know, whatever value we can bring to the service coordinator, we just try to

do. So it's been incredible for us. Yeah, and that investment trickles down

to the residents, right? I think oftentimes we talk about how

our service coordinators are so humble, right? They don't, as much

as they love what they get for themselves, what they're really there for is

what they can get for their residents. And so I know that everything that you

guys do to support not only the service coordinators, this profession,

this association, this event, it really is supporting, you know, over

half a million residents across the United States. And so that is something to be

very proud of and we're very grateful for. Thank you. Absolutely. Hey, that's our mission

is transforming the health of the community one person at a time. So

it starts with those residents. Yeah. It's a perfect partnership, isn't it? Absolutely.

All right. Thank you so much, Kyle. Thank you, Michelle. Always a

pleasure. All right.

I'm sitting here today with Tina DeYoung at the National Conference for

the American Association of Service Coordinators. Our 2026

conference, and it is your first time, as I understand, right, Tina? It is. So

tell us a little bit about your journey as a service coordinator and what brought

you here today. I've been a service coordinator in Wenatchee,

Washington, which is in the center of the state, okay, for 4 years,

and I've been in some type of an elder care

industry since 2012, okay, and I've been wanting

to come to the conference ever since. I heard about

it a month after I started. Okay. But we had

some grant issues that we had to work out for me to be

able to come. Okay. So you're here. You're here in Austin. How long was the

flight? Let's

just say I was supposed to have been in Austin at 8

o'clock Saturday, and I got into my hotel room

30 in the morning. Oh my goodness, that first night you got some good

sleep then, huh? Oh yeah, it was a good thing stuff didn't start on

Sunday till noon. Yeah, so you had some delays. I did. Okay,

well, I'm just glad you're here. I am too, actually.

So what was the most exciting thing about being able to get to come to

conference after all this time not being able to come? When you were preparing

and you were planning, what was the most exciting thing to you? What were you

looking forward to the most, I guess I should say? Just learning more about the

position. Because we've been pretty isolated,

I kind of took the book and made it what I wanted

the position to be. And so I just was kind of wanting

to get more of a perspective from other people on how they

made the book work for them. Have

you gotten it? Yeah. Yeah, there's still a lot of

questions I have. Especially because my background

isn't social work. Oh, okay. I have a business degree. Oh, wow. So

for me, it's get in, get it done, and get out of there. Yeah.

And with social work, it's get in, stay in, write about it, and then

write about it again. Yep. And then maybe get out of it. So

getting used to doing that is always a challenge. It's definitely not a

profession— anytime you're working with humans and

individuals, I think there's an assumption that we can fix things

quickly. And that there's one size fits all for a

problem, right? Right. And that happens in business, right? Right. There's

specific algorithms of how to fix certain things. There's a

budget that's a very clear process, all of those different things. But when we're working

with humans with issues that they're dealing with on

a daily basis and you're trying to help them resolve, there can be multiple answers

to a question. Well, and not only that, I was in sales, so— Oh my

goodness, yeah. Yeah, I dealt with personalities and stuff, but you still

had a product you were trying to get across.

People aren't a product. No, they're not. And on top of

that, I deal with stuff with my own dad. Yes.

So, you know, you don't just leave it at work. It comes home with

you too. Yeah. And there's some reason

parents, when you have all the answers because you do this all day long,

They still don't listen to you. Yeah, it's a lot harder when they're your

own parent or family member, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah, it can be. But I bet

you feel so much more knowledgeable in, in going through

the caregiving role in addition to what you're doing day in and day out. Yeah,

I do. So prior to the conference, talk to me a little bit about the,

the 4 years before you got here. What was education like for you? Since you

couldn't come to conference, you couldn't see your peers, but what were you doing to

try and bring yourself up to speed in the service coordinator realm? Well,

I did take the PSC. Awesome. Which was very

enlightening. It helped me learn a lot. I was talking to

Jennifer, right? Yeah, Jennifer. Yesterday, and they're going to have this

aging curriculum come out, and I'm

really excited to do that because I need more of that

social work Yeah. Education that I've got.

Yeah, that is exciting. And it will— it's nice because with the

PSC, you're then required to continue that education. We have to

do that with HUD, obviously. They say, you know, you have to have so many

certain hours of training. But I think with the PSC, it just elevates

those areas of expertise and continues to challenge you

to learn more. Exactly. And it— and it's— I assume it's all very

applicable To the work that you're doing. Well, yeah. I mean, I'm in

a 202 Section 8, which

is all elderly or disabled. So how many,

how many residents do you have? Last count, it was

142. Wow, that's a lot. And I have 146 apartments.

I assume you're full-time. I am full-time. That's, that's a blessing. I,

yeah, full-time. It's only you, right? Yeah. Right. I've heard stories where

142 could be a part-time person and I'm like, oh my goodness. Oh, I was

that for a while. Were you? Yeah, yeah, that happens sometimes with the funding

mechanisms, and until it gets all kind of fleshed out, that can

happen. And I think, you know, we're a nonprofit, so I think it's our board

also understanding the position. And, you know,

one of the things that you've talked about a lot is

getting people to understand what a service coordinator is,

that it is a profession, right? That we

are on the same level as the administrators, you know,

knowledge-wise and stuff, to make it more of a

profession instead of, oh, you're just that person that, you know, shows me how

to do my DSHS paperwork. Right, right, absolutely, that you're

respected and you're appreciated in the realm that you are in the building.

One of the things that I am

always thinking about is you know, someone like you who came from the

business world and your knowledge potentially was not that it

is today and learning not only

content, so on-demand content that we offer, coming to

conference and learning that content, but learning from your peers. So one

of the things I've noticed about you is that you're very active on our Just

Ask community, which I appreciate, and I'm so grateful that you are. But can you

talk to me a little bit about your choice of being on

that community and what you gain from a community like that and whether or not

that also translates to this conference and meeting people in person.

Actually, it has. Samantha Culver,

yeah, she and I have talked a lot on

the community, and I'm really excited to be in her class

this afternoon. And so she and I have met up the last

couple of days and gotten a chance to talk about

our experiences and stuff.

I think the biggest thing about— I always call it a blog,

whether whatever it's called, is that I've

been allowed to tell my boss, hey, I learned this.

Mm-hmm. Oh, I'm not the only one dealing with this.

There was a big one on Canva. Because a lot of us do our

newsletters, and with Publisher going away in

October, that was one of the first things I put on there.

What are you gonna do? And I've taught myself Canva. Good, good,

good, good. And then there was another gal on there that was actually gonna hold

training classes, which was great. Yeah. So I think it's

just getting that knowledge and be able to— oh, by the way, no, I saw

that on there. I'm not the only one that has to Yeah, yeah. And that

was the hope of that community. And I laugh because the Canva conversation is something

Ross and I have had a lot of conversations about because we, we as

an association too see that community as something that helps feed our work.

So it helps us to know what your needs are and how can we continue

to create opportunities and products and things of that nature to help support you.

And so I giggle because the Canva conversation is something we've talked a lot about.

And, you know, And from a perspective of folks who are not in the field

every day, you know, we had no idea that the newsletter was such a

challenge and publisher going away was going to be such a challenge. And so,

you know, it's those type of in-the-moment type of

conversations that I think are really helpful. And then also

being here and being able to take that conversation from online to

in-person and continue the conversation is really great. I love it. Well, and I

think too, we get not only a conference, we get to

actually meet you guys. You know, we get emails from Melissa,

we get emails from you and stuff, and it's nice to put those

real faces, not just a picture, but a real face to the name. Yeah,

and we feel the same way. You know, I mean, it's— I've been doing this

work for so long and talking to service coordinators over the phone my entire career,

and one of my favorite things is that We all do this where we naturally

imagine what somebody looks like or who we're talking about, right? We create an image

and then we get to meet those folks in person and we're like, oh, that

is not what I pictured. Not at all. And it's not a negative thing. It's

just funny how our brains create some sort of an image, at least with the

community. Sometimes I'm like, oh, okay, that's what that— but it's still just a picture.

Just like you said, it's still just a picture. And so for us, it is

so amazing for us to get to meet you guys too, because it only continues

to build those relationships, that trust. That assurance that there's somebody out

there who has my back. And so I'm so glad you got to

come this year. I am too. And I'm sorry you had trouble flying in, but

it sounds like you— On the positive point, I'll fly out Thursday,

I'm taking Friday off. Oh, perfect, perfect. And then you'll come back in

Monday all energized and ready. Exactly, with a

whole full brain that's going, how do I now take all this

information that I've gotten and then relate it to my residence. And you piece and

parcel it in. You know, I mean, I think that oftentimes

when we go to conferences like this, we leave with such a wealth of knowledge.

And at times, I don't think it hits us right away. There's moments that will

come up. Like, example, there was somebody who came over to me earlier today and

she was talking about how last year she took something

from a session about hoarding and she really was hopeful

to take something that she was going to apply. And it took a few months,

but she finally got to apply that and it change the trajectory

of somebody's life. And she's like, I can't wait for my next one this year.

I know there'll be something. But it doesn't immediately happen. It's like as you're

working through a problem and you're like, oh wait, I remember somebody talked about that.

And now you can also say, hey, anybody in the community, did you attend this

session? Did you, you know, all of those different things where you guys can refresh

each other as well as we move forward into next year too. Well, true. And,

you know, we have this— the conference, the classes have been so

full that you don't necessarily get that intimate part

of that one-on-one, but we can turn that into doing

it when we go back online and say, you know, hey, Samantha, did you

get this when we were talking about that? And so I think that makes a

difference too. Yeah. When I first had the idea of the online

community, it was interesting because we did the virtual conference. So during

COVID we had to shut everything down. We had to do 2 virtual conferences. And

one of the things that I witnessed and I didn't expect was that

communication. Because we're in these big sessions and it's— it would

be rude for us to sit and have a conversation outside of that. And then

we're moving to the next session. And so you don't even know who you're sitting

by. Right. And so during the virtual conference, people were able to say,

where are you from? What are you— you know, we would have so much more

information. And so coupling both things together felt like a

natural opportunity. And I'm really glad that you are

capitalizing on both of those aspects right now. And a

cool thing would be like to do a virtual

kind of area,

like state or that kind of thing. Because

literally I'm in the center of the state and anybody else in this

position is at least 2 and a half hours away. Yep, it's isolating, isn't it?

Yeah. Isolating. And then trying to, you know, I love a lot of the

comments about, well, I partner with this person, I partner with that person, and

I'm thinking, I have one hospital, I

have maybe 4 home care companies,

and so I don't have the breadth of

vendors that I could go to and say, hey, will you do this for me?

Right, right. And so that, that's a challenge. And so you end up doing a

lot of that yourself. Right, right. And, you know, I mean, I

think there's opportunity too, potentially to

learn more about the advocacy process. I know you mentioned

Melissa Harris earlier and, you know, how do we recognize needs within

community and then advocate for more services? Right. Obviously, you're not gonna be able to

get an entire hospital built, but if you do, I mean, I will tell that

story all day long. But you know what I'm saying? Like when you identify needs

because of 146, 142 people living in this one

property, Maybe there's an opportunity for more resources

because you start to, you know, tell local government, hey, this is needed

in our community. Well, a cool thing on that. So I

usually have the mayor of Wenatchee in come once a year. And

when he was in last year, our complaint was we're on 2

pretty busy streets. And when the residents go to catch the

bus, they've got to cross these 2 busy streets. We got

signs put up saying crosswalk, and then we got a

flashing crosswalk. Fantastic. But it was because he

was here in our building, and we said, this is what

we need. That's fantastic. So yeah, it's amazing

your voice has merit when you don't realize it does. Yeah, I'm

gonna challenge you. Next year, I want you to do a presentation about getting that

crosswalk and how you can advocate with your local

government. Her face is big eyes,

but— Maybe Samantha and you could do it together. She's

presenting this year. So there's an idea. You know, that's good too, because

she's in a small area too. She is in a small town too. There's your

challenge for next year. I can't wait to see you on the agenda.

Michelle, you're killing me. Well, Tina, it's been wonderful talking to you.

I hope you have a great flight home, and I can't wait to see you

in the Just Ask community when we get back. Thanks, Michelle. I appreciate it. Thank

you.

You should be a PSC. The Professional Service Coordinator designation

lets everyone know that you are the best of the best, committed to the

highest standards and providing the best information to your residents.

Learn how you can be a PSC at servicecoordinator.org.