The Work That Illuminates

Despite providing more than 900 individuals with essential resources and supplying more than 51,000 meals and 33,000 shelter bed nights each year, too many people in the community had never heard of Arcata House Partnership (AHP). 

But it wasn’t because AHP wasn’t doing enough. Like most non-profits, their small team was so focused on meeting the urgent needs of people in crisis, that their marketing was put on the back burner. 

At Illuminated Marketing, strategy always comes first. Before designing anything, we needed to understand the gap between AHP’s work and the community’s awareness of it. We began by setting up a booth at the Saturday Farmer’s Market in the Arcata Plaza and surveying attendees. Interestingly, the same theme kept appearing in the attendees’ responses: people wanted to support AHP, but they didn’t know how. Respondents asked for clearer updates, more impact stories, and consistent communication. 

And these insights helped shape our strategy-first approach. 

From there, our team spent a full day with AHP, touring every site and service. We visited the Annex (the entry point for all programs), met staff and clients at the temporary adult shelter, and walked through The Grove, AHP’s 60-unit, affordable housing complex. Seeing their work firsthand allowed us to build a strategy that could help clients receive care, and for donors and volunteers to become invested in the overall mission.

Our next step was creating the tools AHP needed to communicate their message. We redesigned their website to clarify their identity, their services , and how both clients and donors could take action. We coordinated a full photo shoot so the organization had high-quality images, reflecting the humanity and hope behind their work. Additionally, we created a donor booklet that their team could share with donors, volunteers, advisers, and funders.

By prioritizing strategy ahead of rebranding, Arcata House Partnership had a foundation for telling their story, establishing partnerships, and furthering their impact. Best of all, the community finally gained a full picture of the essential work AHP was doing right in their own backyard. 

Group photo of AHP staff. Photo by Rich Formica.