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Colorado Springs Hosts First Ever MFSP Conference in the US
By Sue McCormack,
DMFS Field Operations Manager
In March, DMFS sponsored the first-ever conference for delegates from across the United States to discuss the unique concerns of CF families living and working out of country.
Twenty-six participants (95% of them spouses of CF members) met in Colorado Springs for two and a half days devoted to professional development, networking and developing outreach strategies for CF families posted to locations in the US where there is no actual CMFRC.
Delegates included: CMFRC staff members, volunteers and community representatives from Elmendorf Alaska, Rome New York, Tyndall Florida, Tinker Oklahoma, McChord Washington and Cavalier North Dakota. Staff and volunteers from the Colorado Springs CMFRC did an excellent job of organizing the conference and were wonderful hosts.
DMFS staff members Sue McCormack and Brian Gallant used this opportunity to launch the new DMFS resource "Guidelines for CMFRC Advisory Committee Members", to discuss the MFSP Marketing Strategy and the current expansion of the Centrepointe web site to include locations across the US.
Networking opportunities and workshops on succession planning, outcome measurement and 'Perfecting Connecting" rounded out the conference agenda. The "value added" of the conference was to be able to have face-to-face discussions with representatives from so many communities and to hear from each other the realities of life for CF families posted to the US.
As a result of the conference, connections between staff and volunteers in the US were enhanced, and representatives from other US locations were able to learn more about the MFSP and services available to them even in remote locations. DMFS will continue to work with communities across the US to develop new and innovative ways of connecting CF families to the Military Family Services Program.
Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive and all hope that this conference will be the first of many.
