Speaker and author Elia Moreno highlights this year’s Odessa Links Community Conference set for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday.
This year, it will be virtual due to COVID. The theme is “Living Intentionally to Address Poverty.”
Erika Thomas, executive director of Odessa Links, said this is the eighth year the conference has been held.
Thomas said about 150 people from all over attended last year.
“What’s really special is the conference helps fuel our services and the things we do throughout the year and it also provides a training opportunity for us and our partners,” Thomas said. “We really try to maximize and do our due diligence with every donation that comes in and every opportunity where we can learn and do better in the upcoming years.”
Moreno of Canyon is the author of “Permission to Rest and Living Intentionally,” depicting her personal journey and insights on the importance of adding value to the lives of others in just 90 seconds, the Leadership Women website said.
Moreno has many roles. She currently serves as the co-executive Director of Texas Christian Community Development Network. In addition to her role as co-executive director, Moreno is founder and CEO of Living Intentionally Ministries.
Thomas said the registrations are flowing in.
“I think people are eager to learn and see how COVID has impacted people that experience generational poverty; people that have barriers and have been deeply impacted on top of existing barriers and obstacles that they were facing, so this definitely gives us a better lens and perspective and how to better serve those individuals as we all recover during this time,” Thomas said.
No one wants to say it, but Thomas observed that people are experiencing burnout and compassion fatigue and wondering what the endgame is on COVID and its repercussions and what will things look like a year from now.
Thomas noted that this is something people have not experienced in recent times.
“… How are we properly processing that? Are we giving ourselves permission to reset, to heal and come back to the things that we would normally would do. That’s very critical for our first responders and our secondary nonprofit crisis workers and our educators and government officials and anyone that deals with people. It’s very universal, so I think the timing of the content of our conference couldn’t be more appropriate …,” Thomas said.
She noted that Moreno is well versed in dealing with people coming out of poverty and trauma.
“… It’s nice to be able to bring someone like that that might be able to better equip us with tools and better practices so that we can all make that recovery back,” she said.
The speaker is chosen by a committee that meets with the agency’s partners to discuss themes that are going on and trending practices.
“… Sometimes being a rural community, you’re kind of the last to get on the train and we have definitely tried to make sure that we are ahead of the game in some of those practices, so we got together as committee and we all recognized hey last year trauma was big thing; mental health was obviously a big topic and we felt this year it was still very much an important topic, but I think the aspect of giving ourselves permission to rest; what does burnout look like, what does compassion fatigue look like, how do you pour into others when you’re cup isn’t necessarily filled; and how do you make sure that prioritize filling your cup so that you can be impactful at the end of the day,” she said.
When they saw Moreno’s biography and spoke to her on the phone, Thomas knew she was the right speaker.
After the conference, Thomas said, they ask people who attended what they would like to hear or learn about next year.
“That definitely has weight in our decision on who we bring to our area,” Thomas said.
She added that this set of topics resonates with people outside traditional social and nonprofit sectors.
“Hospitals see the value of this content. They recognize this burnout and compassion fatigue. It has not been easy for them. Our first responders, as well. We’re definitely maxing out everyone on a customer service level, on a compassionate level. …,” Thomas said.
