Telling Our Story to the Nation and the World
Effective communications—telling the story of the Council family—drives impact by sharing the right message at the right time through the right channel to the right readers and listeners. Staying connected with the nation and the world is key to the Council’s leadership as the voice of professionals working at the nexus of health care and homelessness.
In recent weeks, the lifesaving and life changing stories of Council members have been seen and heard by national and international audiences in articles and broadcasts of leading media outlets. Here are just four examples of how the media has covered stories of the incredible work being done everyday:
- PBS NewsHour’s “The Challenge of Protecting Homeless Populations Amid COVID-19” explored the threat the pandemic poses to people without homes, who are “more at risk than a risk,” according to our CEO Bobby Watts. Featuring his perspective as well as those of consumers and Dr. Jeffrey Norris of Father Joe’s Villages in San Diego, this story brought the COVID-19 crisis in homeless populations to life for NewsHour’s more than 1.1 million average viewers.
- As the COVID-19 pandemic loomed, Council CEO Bobby Watts and Senior Policy Director Dr. Barbara DiPietro joined Dr. Margot Kushel and Dr. James O’Connell to examine “Coronavirus and the Homeless…” in ABC News, which regularly reaches an audience of nine million people. This piece explored the unique vulnerability and stigma facing people without homes—and potential solutions.
- ProPublica, an internationally renowned nonprofit for investigative journalism, relied on Council perspectives as it explained how “Governments Are Telling Americans to Stay at Home. But Thousands of People Don’t Have One.” Also featuring on-the-ground perspectives from Seattle, this story illustrated how Americans without homes were “already in crisis” before COVID-19.
- The NHCHC’s $500,000 philanthropic partnership with Kaiser Permanente—and the trauma-informed, life-saving care of Health Care for the Homeless—took center stage in “Shelter from the Storm: Addressing Homelessness in the Time of COVID-19” in Time Magazine, which reaches an audience of 27 million unique visitors online every year.
We welcome your suggestions for story ideas as part of the Council’s active and engaged practice of reaching out to our many stakeholders: consumers, reporters, members, clients, researchers, advocates, funders, administrators, clinicians, therapists, students, public policy professionals, and decision-makers throughout our field. We want to hear from you!