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CASSOPOLIS — Area agencies have teamed up to help bring visibility to Cass County’s resource providers and help connect them to those who need them the most.

Great Start Collaborative Cass County, United Way of Southwest Michigan and Heritage Southwest Intermediate School District have partnered to host a virtual community resources forum from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. June 4. The event will provide a space for community resource providers to present their organization and give updates on their services to the community. Service providers can either present live at the meeting or submit a prerecorded video.

Organizers with the event said families, individuals and agency representatives are encouraged to attend to learn more about the resources available in the Cass County community.

“It’s all about making those connections so that we better serve our families seamlessly,” Carter said. “The benefit for agencies is that they can better make referrals to other agencies because they will have a better knowledge of what they do. … The families will get first-hand knowledge of the services that are provided in Cass County.”

Cass County’s first resource forum was hosted in 2019 to good attendance, while the second planned forum had to be canceled this year due to the COVID-19. This year, Carter said the organizers compromised by planning to host a virtual event.

“We know [agencies’] information needs to be constantly updated,” she said. “This is one way to stay updated and help spread the word about the resources in the county.”

Carter has high hopes that the June 4 event will be successful and benefit the Cass County community.

“This is a great partnership,” Carter said. “We want to do great things for [Cass County] families. In addition to spreading the word about what is already here, it will help us see what is missing and where the gaps that need to be filled are.”

Registration is required for the Zoom forum, and can be found at greatstartcass.org. All presenters will be required to fill out a survey to update or add their information to the county’s resource guide.

Though the meeting is limited to 100 participants, community members can obtain a recording of the event by registering or emailing Vicki Foote at vicki.foote@lewiscassisd.org.