Community Resource Exchange Connects Providers with Local Leaders
Published on September 21, 2026
Fifth Annual Nonprofit Networking Event Links Partners on Local Needs
More than 45 service providers gathered Friday outside the Morris County Nonprofit Mall off Central Avenue for the fifth annual Morris County Community Resource Exchange to share information with public officials and build connections with community leaders to ensure residents can find assistance when they need it.
Morris County Commissioner Christine Myers, liaison to the Morris County Department of Human Services, welcomed participants to the nonprofit networking event, which showcased organizations serving residents facing food and housing insecurity, behavioral health needs, aging and disabilities, veterans’ needs and other challenges.
“The Community Resource Exchange reflects an important idea: the better connected we are, the better we can serve those in need,” said Commissioner Myers. “When someone reaches out to one organization, they're connecting to a much larger network of help.
View Photos from the Morris County Community Resource Exchange
The goal of the annual event is to ensure community leaders and public officials who encounter people in need are aware of the many nonprofit and government services available. Resource tables at the exchange included food assistance, housing, health and behavioral health services, legal aid, support for children and families, veterans’ services, workforce development, and assistance for older adults and people with disabilities. The event provided participants and visitors an opportunity to learn about services offered by other organizations and make connections that can help them better serve residents.
“This event that we have been doing for five years is so important, because everybody has a piece in it,” said Kasey Errico, director of the Morris County Department of Human Services. “Think of somebody in your community who is struggling in some way. How can we help, talk through that, problem-solve and make those connections? Because that is what this is about. We are a community here.”
Participating organizations included Saint Clare’s Health, Zufall Health Clinic, the Interfaith Food Pantry Network, Cornerstone Family Programs, Table to Table, the Morris County Housing Authority, the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency, the Family Support Organization of Morris & Sussex Counties, the Morris County Division of Public Health, the Morris County Sheriff’s Office’s Project Lifesaver program, local churches and food pantries, and many others.
The event’s featured speaker was Mark Dinglasan, inaugural executive director of the New Jersey Office of the Food Security Advocate (NJOFSA), which was established in the Governor’s Office to coordinate food security efforts statewide. Dinglasan discussed the broader factors that contribute to food insecurity as a “highly complex socioeconomic issue that requires multilayered efforts to make lasting change.”
He also recognized Morris County’s work to connect organizations and address food insecurity, building what he referred to as a “culture of radical hospitality.”
“Morris County has been doing this right since 2021, before the United Nations’ definition for food security came out in 2022,” Dinglasan said. “We need to connect. We need to create programs that are just as interconnected and highly complex as the problems families are facing… If we do enough of that, we can build interconnected programs that create a community and a culture of radical hospitality.”
“We may represent different organizations, we may serve different populations, but we're all here for the same reason: to make sure that when somebody in our community is struggling, they know that they're not alone,” said Assemblywoman Marisa Sweeney, a registered dietitian and doctor of clinical nutrition, who spoke at the event and introduced Dinglasan.
Following opening remarks and presentations, participants were encouraged to visit resource tables and network with other service providers. Attendees included mayors and councilmembers from different municipalities and representatives from the offices of U.S. Rep. Tom Kean Jr., U.S. Rep. Analilia Mejia, Assemblyman Andrew Macurdy, state Sen. Anthony Bucco and Assemblywoman Aura Dunn.
The Community Resource Exchange is organized annually by a steering committee representing the Morris County Department of Human Services, ARC/Morris, Family Promise of Morris County, the Interfaith Food Pantry Network and the Morris County Continuum of Care.
For more information about local nonprofit resources, visit:
morriscountynj.gov/Residents/Community-Information/Nonprofits.
A nonprofit directory also will be featured in the Chamber of Commerce’s 2027 annual Business and Community Guide.
For more information about Morris County Human Services, visit Morris County Human Services webpage.
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Photo 1: (l-r) Alex McConnell and Cristina Alvarado of the office of Assemblywoman Aura Dunn; Chiara Garcia, chief of staff to Senator Anthony M. Bucco; Cassandra Salas, project coordinator at NJOFSA; Holly Dinenny, associate director of community engagement, Family Promise of Morris County; Mark Dinglasan, inaugural executive director of NJOFSA; Carolyn Lake, executive director of the Interfaith Food Pantry Network; Kasey Errico, Director of Morris County Department of Human Services; Joann Bjornson, CEO of Family Promise of Morris County; Morristown Councilman Nathan Umbriac; Morris County Commissioner Christine Myers; and Assemblywoman Marisa Sweeney.
Photo 2: Participants gather for the fifth annual Morris County Community Resource Exchange on Sept. 18, 2026 at the Morris County Nonprofit Mall, 1 Executive Drive in Morris Plains.
Photo 3: Chiara Garcia, chief of staff to Senator Anthony M. Bucco, and Alex McConnell and Cristina Alvarado of the office of Assemblywoman Aura Dunn, speak with a representative from the Morris County Housing Authority.
Photo 4: Morris County Sheriff’s Office Cpl. Chelsea Whiting, coordinator of Hope One, connects with an attendee.