BY: RHODA WEISS
Ms. Weiss is a Santa Monica, CA-based health care consultant and speaker.
For 34 years, El Proyecto del Barrio ("the neighborhood project")
was one of the best-kept secrets among not-for-profit organizations in southern
California. The health and human services agency, based in Arleta, CA, in the
San Fernando Valley, had built an enviable record of success for clinical excellence.
It provides a full range of medical and health services to underserved populations
at clinics throughout a 400-square-mile area in Los Angeles County. El Proyecto
serves people of all ethnic backgrounds, but the vast majority of its more than
100,000 clients are Latinos who live well below the federal poverty guidelines.
A key benefit to its community, the agency was nevertheless all but invisible
in the media and among key decision makers.
That's not true anymore.
"Branding" El Proyecto
A highly effective "branding" and marketing program, launched
in late 2004, has brought El Proyecto more publicity in nine months than the
agency was able to inspire in its previous 33 years altogether. The agency has
been featured in newspapers; on network-affiliated, Spanish-language and local
TV stations; and in numerous radio stories. And the campaign has recently helped
El Proyecto to catch the attention of elected officials.
This new public attention has been the result of design, not luck. El Proyecto's
leaders began by engaging Waskul World Wide Communications, Glendale, CA, to
"brand" the agency with a logo that would foster an emotional link
between it and the people it serves. The new logo features an illustration of
a mother, father, and baby. The words "hope," "commitment,"
and "excellence," selected to represent what the organization stands
for, were placed below "El Proyecto del Barrio" on the logo. The illustration
was augmented with the organization's traditional "Esperanza" (Spanish
for "hope") slogan. These elements are used on every El Proyecto document,
on signs, and even on the organization's mobile medical clinic.
Along with the branding effort, Waskul produced a corporate portfolio of written
materials that would tell El Proyecto's story to the news media, community
leaders, and elected officials—three of the not-for-profit's most
critical audiences. The company also designed new business cards, a letterhead,
envelopes, and a variety of other materials.
"El Proyecto had a great story to tell, and for the first time, it had
the ability to tell that story with materials that matched the quality of its
services," says Greg Waskul, the company's president. "The fact
sheets were turned into stories in local and regional newspapers and on television
stations. Suddenly, El Proyecto's name was everywhere. The organization
had come alive in the consciousness of the community."
New Services
And not just in the community's consciousness. A briefing package containing
program descriptions and client photos and testimonials was sent to elected
officials. This has helped El Proyecto tell its story in Washington, DC, and
Sacramento. These forces have combined to create momentum at a time when many
community providers were making cutbacks. El Proyecto's branding and marketing
program has paid off in increased recognition, increased funding, multiplication
of programs, and, most importantly, increased services to those who need help.
Among these new services are the following:
- Reopened Clinic El Proyecto will reopen a health clinic in Azusa,
CA, which had been closed by Los Angeles County budget cuts. This spring,
Rep. Hilda L. Solis, (D-CA) announced that the agency would receive $417,000
in federal funding for the clinic. The announcement sparked extensive local
media coverage.
- Christmas Party The agency's "Navidad en El Barrio"
event provided a Christmas treat for 2,500 community members who couldn't
afford to buy Christmas trees or toys for their children. The largest such
gathering in El Proyecto's history, it was attended by local, state,
and congressional officials.
- HIV/AIDS Services Through the help of Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), El
Proyecto received a grant with which it was able to double the HIV/AIDS services
provided at its West San Fernando Family Health Center. The HIV/AIDS caseload
there had doubled over the past two years. The announcement of the grant received
coverage by both English- and Spanish-language television and print media.
A front-page story in the Los Angeles Daily News, describing the increase
of HIV/AIDS in the Latino community, prominently mentioned the work done by
El Proyecto.
- "Access Point" Status The agency recently was awarded federal
"Access Point" status by the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services. The Access Point program, initiated by the Bush administration,
is intended to improve health care access for the poor. As a federally qualified
health care agency, El Proyecto will receive more than $600,000 in additional
funding annually and will also be eligible for further sources of federal
funding.
- Child Care Initiative El Proyecto has recently been appointed by
Los Angeles's municipal government to lead a new, city-funded child care
initiative in the East San Fernando Valley; the initiative will provide a
safe daytime environment for hundreds of children.
Expanded Opportunity
"Our branding and marketing program played a central role in bringing
new opportunities to reality," says Corinne Sanchez, El Proyecto's
CEO. "It provided consistently high-level visibility that put us on the
map, emphasizing the level of excellence that we strive for in everything we
do. The bottom line of our branding and marketing effort is that we will now
be able to better fulfill our mission to provide critical health care services
to people in need throughout the communities we serve."
Copyright © 2005 by the Catholic Health Association of the United States
For reprint permission, contact Betty Crosby or call (314) 253-3477.