Primary audience
Black adults ages 25–54 in the Seattle metropolitan area who may be uninsured, underinsured, or face financial, cultural, access, or stigma-related barriers to mental health care.
Therapy Fund Foundation · Access Gap
Purpose Becomes Credible When Communication Leads to Access
Reclaiming Wellness is a behavioral health conference and resource fair created by the Seattle-based Therapy Fund Foundation to connect underserved communities with culturally responsive mental health education, providers, and support. This independent case analysis examines how mission, community need, stakeholder trust, and multichannel communication can work together to turn mental health awareness into tangible access.
Type
Independent Integrated Campaign Analysis
Framework
USC Strategic Integrated Planning Model
Focus
Brand Purpose, Health Equity, Community Engagement and PESO Communications
Academic context
USC Annenberg · PRSM 550: Brand Purpose Communication
Assignments
Purpose Case Analysis Parts 1 and 2 · Weeks 5–6 · 2026
Reclaiming Wellness
SHO
01 — The communication opportunity
The challenge was visibility and access—not a lack of purpose.
Therapy Fund Foundation’s mission is closely connected to eliminating financial, cultural, and systemic barriers to mental health care. Its strongest advantage is the authenticity created when advocacy is supported by education, partnerships, programming, providers, and accessible resources.
The communication opportunity was to expand awareness beyond audiences already familiar with the organization while addressing persistent stigma, misinformation, limited visibility, and unequal access to culturally responsive care.
02 — The strategic question
How can a community-centered organization use purpose-driven communication to reduce stigma, expand visibility, strengthen trust, and connect people with meaningful mental health resources?
03 — The gap
From established credibility to wider participation.
- Existing strength
- Credibility among stakeholders already familiar with the Foundation’s mission and community work.
- Communication gap
- Limited awareness beyond people already engaged with mental health advocacy and wellness initiatives.
- Desired perception
- A trusted, accessible, community-centered, and action-oriented advocate for mental health equity.
- Strategic opportunity
- Use trusted voices, community partnerships, education, and direct resource access to move audiences from awareness to participation.
04 — Audience architecture
Secondary audience
Therapists, counselors, social workers, nonprofit organizations, community health providers, and wellness practitioners committed to culturally responsive care.
Tertiary audience
Faith leaders, nonprofit leaders, public-health advocates, community organizers, partners, and potential sponsors interested in health equity and community wellness.
05 — Message architecture
One purpose, translated for three audiences.
Black adults facing barriers to care
Mental health care should be accessible, culturally responsive, and free from stigma.
Behavioral health providers
Collaboration strengthens community wellness and expands access to care.
Community leaders and advocates
Advancing mental health equity requires collective action and community partnership.
06 — Creative platform
Reclaiming Wellness
The platform positions wellness as something individuals and communities can reclaim through education, support, culturally responsive care, and access to resources. Its storytelling approach is empowering, community-centered, and solution-oriented—emphasizing healing and accessibility without reducing audiences to disparities or trauma.
07 — Strategic priorities
01
Reduce stigma
Use education, community dialogue, and culturally relevant storytelling to make mental health conversations more accessible.
02
Activate trusted voices
Extend credibility through qualified providers, community partners, advocates, speakers, and leaders who already hold audience trust.
03
Connect purpose to action
Ensure awareness directs audiences toward real providers, education, referrals, programming, and support—not messaging alone.
08 — PESO communications model
An analytical and recommended framework based on publicly observable campaign information. These tactics are not presented as confirmed execution.
Paid
Potential targeted social promotion and sponsored event awareness designed to reach relevant local audiences and encourage registration.
Earned
Community calendar placement, local-media outreach, mental-health and health-equity story angles, partner amplification, and coverage centered on the public value of accessible behavioral health resources.
Shared
Content distributed through the Foundation, speakers, providers, attendees, advocates, and community-partner networks to expand trusted reach and participation.
Owned
Event and organizational webpages, registration communications, email, conference materials, educational content, and post-event resource follow-up.
Paid and shared channels can create awareness, earned media can strengthen credibility, and owned channels can convert attention into registration, participation, and continued resource access.
09 — Proactive story angles
Recommended media opportunities.
These are recommended media opportunities—not confirmed coverage.
- Why culturally responsive mental health care is essential to health equity
- Moving mental health advocacy beyond awareness and toward accessible resources
- How community partnerships can reduce barriers to behavioral health support
- Reclaiming wellness through education, trusted providers, and collective action
- The role of community-centered events in reducing stigma and expanding access
10 — Proposed measurement framework
Proposed targets, not actual results.
Every number below is a proposed target developed for the analysis—not an actual result.
Proposed objectives
- Increase conference attendance compared with previous events.
- Secure participation from at least 20 behavioral health providers, wellness practitioners, community organizations, and advocacy partners.
- Generate a proposed 25% increase in event-related website traffic, registrations, and social engagement during the promotional period.
- Target positive post-event feedback from at least 80% of attendees regarding the relevance, accessibility, and value of the resources and programming.
Recommended KPIs
Attendance and registration · Partner participation · Website traffic and conversion · Social engagement · Resource referrals · Participant satisfaction · Post-event trust and perception · Continued engagement with services and support
11 — Planning model
An analyzed planning sequence that does not imply access to Therapy Fund Foundation’s internal calendar.
- 01Research and community-needs assessment
- 02Conference planning and partner recruitment
- 03Sponsorship and community outreach
- 04Marketing, promotion, and registration
- 05Conference and resource-fair activation
- 06Post-event evaluation and stakeholder follow-up
12 — Illustrative planning budget
Not actual organizational expenditures.
- Venue and event operations
- $15,000
- Marketing and promotion
- $7,500
- Speakers and facilitators
- $10,000
- Resource-fair operations
- $5,000
- Staffing and volunteer support
- $5,000
- Evaluation and reporting
- $2,500
- Illustrative total
- $45,000
These figures were developed as reasonable planning estimates for the academic analysis. They are not Therapy Fund Foundation’s disclosed or confirmed expenditures.
13 — Strategic takeaway
Purpose communication is most credible when awareness is supported by meaningful access, trusted relationships, and tangible action.
Reclaiming Wellness demonstrates how a mission can become an experience: one that gives stakeholders opportunities to learn, connect with qualified providers, access resources, and participate in a broader community conversation about mental health equity.
This independent campaign analysis was developed by Angelique Payne through USC Annenberg’s M.S. in Public Relations Innovation, Strategy and Management using publicly available information and the Strategic Integrated Planning Model. It was not commissioned or endorsed by Therapy Fund Foundation. Proposed objectives, tactics, timelines, KPIs, and budget figures are analytical recommendations rather than reported organizational results.
