For the past 15 years, the Housing First initiative in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, has worked to reduce long-term (chronic) homelessness by providing rent-subsidized permanent housing, medical care, mental health, recovery and employment services to help individuals integrate back into their communities. Housing First has had remarkable success, cutting the rate of long-term homelessness by 86 percent in Cuyahoga County. The initiative’s lead organizations wanted to pursue a media campaign to earn positive media attention for this highly successful work.

How we did it: ACS worked with Housing First in a short-term engagement on a messaging and media outreach strategy. The goals of the media strategy were to celebrate Housing First’s success; to educate the community about Housing First and its impact on the community; to share best practices; and to boost momentum and recommit partners to sustain the initiative over the long term.

Outcomes: ACS’ messaging and media strategy reached nearly 9 million viewers/listeners/readers in Northeast Ohio.

ACS did an incredible job for Housing First. We were impressed by their work and who they are as people. Thank you on behalf of the hundreds of people who won’t be living on the streets and in shelters in the near future.”

Mark McDermott

Vice President of Enterprise Community Partners