CareCommunity Summit

Join us at CareCommunity Summit for a fun, in-person event all about connecting and caring together!

🌍 2026 Spring CareCommunity Summit

April 9th, 2026 | Lake Oswego, Oregon

About This Event

Oregon's adult care home community is one of the most beautifully diverse communities in the country and the 2026 Spring CareCommunity Summit is a celebration of exactly that.Join us on April 9th, 2026 in Lake Oswego for a full day of education, inspiration, and genuine human connection. Care home providers in Oregon come from every corner of the world : from East Africa to Eastern Europe, from Southeast Asia to Latin America, from the Pacific Islands to the Middle East and together, they form the backbone of compassionate care for Oregon's aging adults. This summit is your day. A day to learn, to grow, to connect, and to be seen and celebrated for the extraordinary work you do and the rich cultures you bring to it.

Now in its fourth year, the CareCommunity Summit was co-founded and is hosted by Adriana Gavozdea and Alyssa Elting McGuire with a mission that has never wavered: to provide education, community, and connection for Oregon's adult care home community. This spring promises to be our most vibrant and impactful summit yet.

🎉 Wear Your Culture — Dress in Your National Costume!

One of the things that makes Oregon's care home community so extraordinary is the incredible tapestry of cultures, languages, and traditions represented within it. Providers from dozens of countries bring not only their skills and dedication, but their values, their warmth, and the deeply human traditions of care that are woven into their heritage. This year, we are inviting every attendee to wear their national costume or traditional dress to the summit. Whether it's a vibrant West African kente cloth, a beautifully embroidered Eastern European blouse, a traditional Filipino barong, a Korean hanbok, a Kenyan kitenge, a Mexican huipil, or any garment that represents where you come from, we want to see it. Wear it proudly! This is not a costume contest. It is a celebration. A moment for our community to stand together in all its color and say: every culture that walks through the door of a care home brings something irreplaceable. We honor that. We celebrate that. And on April 9th, we wear that.If you prefer not to wear traditional dress, come as you are, all are welcome. But if you have a garment that connects you to your roots, this is the day to wear it.

📋 What to Expect

The 2026 Spring CareCommunity Summit is a full-day conference featuring expert-led presentations, practical tools you can implement immediately, and meaningful time to connect with fellow providers, vendors, and community partners who share your commitment to quality care.

8 Training Hours are available for APD, I/DD, and MH Adult Care Homes in Oregon.

All attendees will receive a copy of Adriana's book " Stories Behind Caregiving".

🎤 2026 Spring Speakers & Topics

We are honored to welcome an exceptional lineup of industry leaders, legal professionals, and care home experts to this summit. Each speaker brings deep, practical knowledge to help you build, protect, and grow your adult foster home business. Below is a brief introduction to the professionals who will be guiding our sessions today.

Jeff Burgess

Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) Session: Labor Laws and Employee Classification

Jeff Burgess is a representative of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, the state agency responsible for enforcing Oregon's wage and hour laws, civil rights statutes, and workplace protections. In his session, Jeff will walk care home providers through the critical distinctions between employees and independent contractors, a classification that carries significant legal and financial consequences. Whether you are bringing on caregivers, overnight staff, or relief workers, understanding how Oregon law defines your workforce is essential to staying compliant and avoiding costly penalties.

Meredith Williamson, JD

NW Estate Law Session: How an LLC Protects Your Business

Meredith Williamson is a licensed attorney with NW Estate Law, where she advises clients on business formation, asset protection, and estate planning strategies. In her session, she will explain how forming a Limited Liability Company (LLC) creates a legal shield between your personal assets and the liabilities of your care home operation and why that distinction matters more than most providers realize. She will also address common mistakes made during the formation process and how to ensure your LLC actually provides the protection it promises.

Noel Ngure, RN

Care Home Provider Session: The Importance of Documentation in Protecting Your Business

Noel Ngure is a Registered Nurse and experienced adult foster home provider. Drawing from years of hands-on experience running a licensed care home, Noel understands that documentation is not merely a regulatory requirement, it is your primary line of defense in the event of a complaint, investigation, or legal dispute. In her session, Noel will share the documentation practices that have protected her business and her residents.

Cynthia McDaniel, MSN, RN

NurseLearn Session: Your RN Consultant — Clinical Guidance for Care Home Providers

Cynthia McDaniel is a Registered Nurse and the founder of NurseLearn, an education and consulting business designed specifically for community based nurses . With a career spanning direct patient care, nursing education, and regulatory compliance, Cynthia brings a rare combination of clinical depth and teaching clarity to every engagement. Her session is an opportunity to get expert nursing guidance tailored to the unique environment of the adult foster home.

Ashley Krause

Senior One SourceSession: Making Your Home Marketable and How to Conduct an Effective Tour

Ashley Krause is a senior living placement specialist with Senior One Source, an organization dedicated to connecting older adults and their families with the right care environment. Ashley works daily with families navigating the transition into adult foster home care, giving her an unmatched perspective on what families look for and what makes a home stand out. In her session, Ashley will share the strategies that make a care home compelling to prospective residents and their families. She will also discuss how to conduct a tour that builds trust and closes placements. If you want to keep your home full with residents who are the right fit, this session will give you the tools to make it happen.

👥 Who Should Attend

This summit is designed for everyone who is part of Oregon's adult care home community, including:

•Adult Foster Home (AFH), I/DD and MH owners, administrators and resident managers

•Caregivers and future care home owners, administrators or resident managers seeking to connect with other providers

Disclaimer: This event is intended exclusively for care home providers, caregivers, administrators, and resident managers. The hosts reserve the right to deny entry or remove any individual who is not affiliated with the industry or who attends with intentions inconsistent with the purpose of the event.

Vendor participation is by invitation only. If you are interested in becoming a vendor at future events, please contact us for more information.

🤝 About Your Hosts

Adriana Gavozdea is the founder of Laria Real Estate and a top-producing real estate agent specializing in care home transactions and senior placements across Oregon and Washington and the creator of Laria Care Finder, a nationwide locator connecting families directly with care home vacancies. She is also a co-founder and board member of the Oregon Care Home Council, advocating for better regulations and fair pay for providers, and a published author of Stories Behind Caregiving, a personal account of her own hands-on experience as a caregiver. Adriana brings to this summit a rare combination of lived caregiving experience, business expertise, and a deep appreciation for the multicultural community of providers who make Oregon's care home system extraordinary.

Alyssa Elting McGuire is the founder and Consulting & Training Director of Oregon Care Home Consulting & Training, which she established in 2018 after 12 years of State service with Oregon's Aging & People with Disabilities (APD) program, including roles as a APS investigator and an adult foster home licensing lead. Alyssa also worked as a program manager with the Alzheimer's Association Oregon & SW Washington Chapter. A State-certified Ensuring Quality Care (EQC) instructor, compliance consultant and educator, and recipient of the BBB Spark Award for Oregon, Alyssa brings to this summit nearly 15 years of experience advocating for providers at the State level and delivering the training, compliance support, and community connection that Oregon's care home operators need to thrive, in all their beautiful diversity.

Together, Adriana and Alyssa created the CareCommunity Summit in 2022 which was previously known as Care Home Conference, with a simple but powerful mission: to give Oregon's care home providers the education, community, and connection they deserve. Every summit since has reflected that mission and this spring, we are taking it one step further by celebrating the extraordinary cultural richness that makes this community unlike any other in the nation.