CoAction hosts annual Reimagine Conference with this year’s theme: The Difference is YOU

CoAction cares — from the CEO to the volunteers, the CoAction team truly practices what is often only preached.

Friday, August 7, in the ballrooms of Valparaiso University’s Harre Union, was for many a day to remember. This year’s annual CoAction Reimagine Conference once again gave a platform to the voiceless, bridged connections through common goals, and recognized the mental health advocates, educators, and workers for the often thankless services they provide.

This year’s Reimagine Conference was about the bigger picture. This year’s theme, “The Difference Is YOU,” leaned into the preventive measures social service providers can take to ensure our communities and their leaders remain housed, fed, and free from distress, disability, and crisis.

The theme built on last year’s, which was “Hope in Action: Mobilizing Communities to Respond and Build Collective Strength.” This year’s conference built on the idea that collective stability starts at the most foundational level: you, yourself, your health, and your response.

Chief Services Officer Jennifer Malone offered perspective on the intersection of the collective and the individual and how one might trigger a domino effect.

“Each of us has the ability — and the responsibility — to make a difference through the way we lead, serve, and show up for others, but our impact becomes even greater when we bring that commitment into our organizations and partnerships,” Malone said. “Reimagine is about creating that connection: inspiring individual action, strengthening organizational leadership, and bringing people together around a shared purpose so we can create lasting change across our communities.”

The CoAction team has done the research, and for the conference they teamed up with regional leaders, innovators, and experts in their field for answers— not simply because it matters to the team, but because the community and the data speak for themselves. Focus areas may shift, but the core of the organization’s mission stays intact.

“We continually reevaluate community needs through formal needs assessments, community data, and, most importantly, direct feedback from the people and communities we serve,” said CoAction CEO Jen Trowbridge.

Informed, honest, real-time feedback can yield better outcomes and care plans for the communities that need them most, delivered in a timely manner.

“One of the areas I am most excited about is CoAction’s growing focus on prevention — developing services and partnerships that can help prevent housing, financial, or health instability before individuals and families reach a crisis,” Trowbridge said.

Trowbridge pointed to CoAction’s homeless program as an example of that preventive care in action.

“We had to wait for people to be evicted before intervening,” Trowbridge said. “Now, with preventive care, we can help people when the hardship occurs versus the crisis.”

Reimagine attendees stepped into someone else’s shoes through storytelling and vulnerability and left with a toolkit of perspectives on their own lives with the goal of eventually using their own story, lesson, or tools to create sustainable change in the people around them.

“I hope people leave with a greater awareness of themselves — how their experiences shape the way they respond, lead, communicate, and connect with others. If we can better understand our own reactions and be more intentional in how we show up, we can strengthen our relationships both personally and professionally,” said Malone. “Ultimately, even small changes in how we listen, respond, and engage with others can have a meaningful impact.”

That impact was on full display following a moving panel discussion that brought a room of 200 to tears. Storytelling, vulnerability, and bravery drove home the case for change.

The Reimagine Conference gave panelists the opportunity to share their stories and how their lives look today because of the work they’ve done. Each discussion offered insight into how close a person can come to crisis, the steps that can help avoid it in the future, and how to channel hardship into advocacy for others.

“Bringing service providers, educators, advocates, and community leaders together allows us to share perspectives, build stronger partnerships, and create solutions that better serve the whole person. We care about the professionals who serve, the people who need service, and the community members who contribute to our stability,” Trowbridge said.

The Reimagine Conference was a day dedicated to advocacy and building connections around our communities’ most vital resources. Together, the CoAction team stood united under one cause: bettering the lives of every individual they encounter.

Informative breakout sessions gave service providers guidance on helping clients navigate life, covering topics including money management, trauma response, and the services available to them and the people they serve. The Urban League of Northwest Indiana – a local organization providing services in education, financial stability, health and wellness, social justice, and youth leadership across Lake, Porter, and La Porte counties – was among this year’s presenters. Urban League of NWI President and CEO Dr. Vanessa Allen-McCloud tackled cultural competency and overcoming bias.

Other community leaders addressed topics central to CoAction’s work in the Region: creating change through innovation, building trauma-informed community food systems, youth suicide prevention, and financial strategies to build stronger futures for those they serve.

CoAction’s reach is expanding and creating new avenues for change through prevention and crisis management. The Reimagine Conference was one more reminder that CoAction cares. With access to partnerships across more than 30 programs in the Region, the organization’s care network continues to reach new communities and new families, having helped 38,930 people move forward in 2025.

At CoAction, the team believes that no matter what someone’s “hard” looks like, that individual deserves to be met with respect, patience, and care. The Reimagine Conference gave attendees the opportunity to add compassion to that list.

Learn more about CoAction and the services it provides at coaction.care.