A Public Relations Proposal for Recovery International Kalamazoo. COM 3500: T 5 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. Scott Shank Jacob Beach Hailee Neimi Haylie Dwyer Kelsey Wilson Table of Contents Executive Summary………………………………………………………………………3 Website Proposal…………………………………………………………………...…….5 Social Media Proposal…………………………………………………………………...11 Brochure Proposal……………………………………………………………………….15 Bookmark Proposal……………………………………………………………………...18 Special Event Proposal…………………………………………………………………..22 Special Event News Release…………………………………………………………….27 Appendix I Media Advisory………………………………………………………………….29 Fact Sheet………………………………………………………………………..30 Rebrand News Release…………………………………………………………..31 Appendix II Logo……….……………………………………………………………………..33 Bookmark………………………………………………………………………...33 Letterhead………………………………………………………………………...34 Poster……………………………………………………………………………..35 Brochure………………………………………………………………………….36 Appendix III Research…………………………………………………………………………..38 2 Executive Summary Recovery International is a global organization that has helped hundreds of thousands of people experience improved mental health. The Kalamazoo chapter has relied on the website and promotional material from the national office, but would benefit from the development of its own brand. In this proposal, you will find the materials necessary for a public relations campaign that will create brand identity for the local RI chapter in Kalamazoo. The campaign provides a complete package of ideas including proposals for a new website, social media, promotional items, and a special event. Graphic design elements have been added to appeal to multiple demographics. The proposals are easy to implement, will increase awareness of RI in the Kalamazoo area, and will lead to greater involvement in the weekly RI meet ups. The proposed website, RIKalamazoo.org, will bring consistency to the brand by providing a venue to disseminate information and the ability to register “RIKalamazo.org” email addresses to be used by leaders in the organization. It will serve as a hub to direct visitors to the various social media outlets. The website will link to the national site, but will highlight the local chapter’s activities and events. Social Media is an inexpensive, yet necessary component in this PR campaign. The use of Twitter and Facebook are recommended in addition to RI’s presence on Meetup.com. Attention- 3 getting graphics are included to use as Facebook cover and profile images. Social media is only valuable if the sites are actively used. If no one from within the organization is able to update the sites consistently, it is recommended to seek an intern from WMU’s School of Communication for assistance. Promotional items peek interest and inform potential members about the organization and its services. Brochures from the national office are available for distribution by the local RI chapter. Bookmarks are available at RecoveryInternational.org for use in recruitment. These promotional items do not provide contact information for the local RI group or directly link to RI Kalamazoo’s page on Meetup.com. As part of the new branding initiative, a proposal for a new brochure and recruitment bookmark are included. According to a 2011 survey by Kraus, Phillips, and Picket, the majority of participants in RI are Caucasian women in their 50s who suffer from depression. A special event on the campus of Western Michigan University will promote the organization to the 18 to 30 demographic. This point of entry event will allow members of RI Kalamazoo to share their experiences and provide information with college students on how they could benefit from the program. Recovery International provides a valuable service to the Kalamazoo area. A new branding campaign will increase name recognition of the organization to the community, bring consistency to its various promotional efforts, and make it easier for people to locate information about the local RI group. The following proposals provide the next step in developing the RI Kalamazoo brand. 4 RI Kalamazoo - Website Proposal Situation: The Kalamazoo, Mich. branch of Recovery International (RI) does not have a website. When “Recovery International, Kalamazoo” is searched on Google, the “Meet Up” page is the first response. College students in the Kalamazoo area who have struggled with mental illnesses need to be able to search online for a local program to provide help. Not having a personal and interactive website could have a negative impact on Recovery International’s exposure to its target audiences because the audience cannot find the program. It would benefit RI Kalamazoo to have its own formal and descriptive website for easy access and transfer information. Objective: Objectives for the website campaign are to increase Recovery International’s exposure to a larger audience; to grow and cultivate a college-aged audience; and to have meeting attendance increase each month. 1. Motivational: To increase exposure of Recovery International’s voice among the college-aged demographics in Kalamazoo to motivate students to get involved with RI’s program. 2. Informational: To increase awareness and inform students of the risks of mental illnesses, as well as the means to help them recover. Audience: The ultimate goal of the website is to be multigenerational, but our target audience is college students. For the motivational objective of growing and cultivating a college-aged 5 audience, we will specifically make the content of our website attractive to college students while being sure to appeal to the general population as well. Strategy: Reach and connect the college-age students in Kalamazoo with available information about mental illness recovery by creating a website for Recovery International’s branch in Kalamazoo. Recovery International seeks to influence college students in Kalamazoo to use its services by developing and launching a website that will help increase the awareness of mental illness in college-aged students. Tactics: To orchestrate the development and launch of a website for the Kalamazoo branch of Recovery International, we will plan carefully to achieve our objectives. 1. To increase awareness and exposure of RI’s voice among the college-aged demographics in Kalamazoo: As we develop the website, we will be sure to make it attractive for the college-aged audience in Kalamazoo. Making the site easily useable, and a viable source of information. The site will include specific information about mental illnesses that college students face such as: depression, anxiety, and high-level stress. Meeting times and places will be prominently displayed. Testimonies from other college students who have found the program helpful, and a link for the students to click if they have any questions will also be components of the website. 2. To inform students of the risks of mental illnesses, as well as the means to help them recover: The site will have a comprehensive breakdown of the Abraham Low self-help system of recovery; learning to manage anger and fears. Most college students are unaware that they are suffering from a mental illness, so giving specific examples and testimonies on the site will help students better understand that they are suffering a mental illness episode. One message on the site will be inform students of their “next 6 step”; where after the student has realized they need help, they can find information on what is next. 3. When the domain name: RIKalamazoo.org is purchased an email extension is included. As a part of this website launch, Fran also receives her own personal email. Her new email is: Fran@RIKalamazoo.org. This is a professional email that is included on headers, contact pages, press releases, and all other professional documents RI publishes. 4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): During the development stage of this website, 3 to 5 keywords should be identified and woven into the content. SEO is a strategic tactic to improve our standings on search engines. Google recognizes and awards credibility to sites who use keywords correctly. 5. Brand congruence: Having a consistent brand allows RI Kalamazoo to become more professional. A consistent brand will add credibility to this organization. We have branded RI with the color green. The color green is “beneficial to reduce anxiety and bring about a calmer state of mind” (Call & Jantzen, 2012). Logo is visible on header. Timetable: This campaign is projected to begin Jan. 1, 2014 and be everlasting. Step one through four will take place over the next six months. Information on the website will be ever updated - staying relevant with the audience we are trying to reach. Once this website is launched, all efforts can be transferred to proper upkeep; an ongoing process. The sequence of events is as follows: 1. Find and purchase a domain name for the Kalamazoo branch of RI . 2. Find a platform to build a website upon. Squarespace is a great option because it offers flash, e-commerce, reservations and runs with javascript. 7 a. Staff will need to develop the website. Once the website is developed, interns can update accordingly. RI may need to hire on a new position for the development of this website; they may freelance the work, or choose to have it developed on-site. b. The national organization’s website can be used as an example during development; because we are an extension of the main branch, the information we include on our site should be a mirror of the national organization. However, the content will be made specific to the Kalamazoo community. 3. Host a meeting with current RI Kalamazoo members to sign off on the “look” of the website. This website should be a mirror of the national organization. This meeting will make sure RI staff area all on the same page. 4. Build the content of website: make informational and welcoming. 5. Launch: a buzz should be created about the launch of our new site 2 weeks before launch: announcement of new website launch should be posted to all social media sites: Twitter, Meet Up, Facebook 6. 1 week before: remind audience on social media sites of our new website. 7. Day of launch: Post the new domain to all social media sites - releasing the public to see the new site. Budget: The following is a projection of the potential budget to launch a RI website for the Kalamazoo branch. Out of pocket expenses (OOP) - None o Graphics provided on CD o Content can be mirrored from the national organization website. Staff expenses - None 8 o Bring an intern on the team to upkeep the site. Website fees: o Squarespace Fees: Basics Plan: $8/month or $80/year Price includes: o FREE Custom Domain When the squarespace site is purchased, so is the domain. o 20 Pages o Galleries and Blogs o 500 GB Bandwidth o 2 GB storage o 2 Contributors o Mobile Website Evaluation: Here are some practical ways to evaluate if this proposed website meets the objectives: Google Analytics: Generates detailed statistics of about a website’s traffic and traffic sources. o Use Google Analytics to see who is searching for mental illnesses in the Kalamazoo area. o Receive a percentage of those who actually end up on our site who are searching for mental illness help in Kalamazoo. 9 Squarespace Analytics: Squarespace has analytics integrated on the dashboard. It allows the contributor to see the following analytics on a yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily rate: o Traffic overview: the count of page views, visits, and audience size. Allows one to compare and contrast how many visitors are landing on our site. o Refers: the count and referrer. o Popular content: the count and page. o Allows one to see which sites are referring the audience to our site. Allows one to see what the audience visits most on our site. Search engine queries: the count and search query. Allows one to see what the audience is searching on engines such as Google and Bing. 10 RI Kalamazoo - Social Media Proposal Situation: RI Kalamazoo currently has no staff members who would be responsible for posting to each social media platform on time. I would recommend contacting the School of Communication at Western Michigan University and try to get a social media intern who takes care of the posting. Another situation we will face is the need for community in starting a social media campaign. I would suggest to combat this we try to get followers and like at campus event such as Bronco Bash and with those along with members we can get a small following base. To create more exposure on Facebook we also recommend budgeting $30 to promote a post about RI Kalamazoo. This will allows the post to be seen by target audiences along with friends of friends. Objectives: The main objective of this social media plan is to enhance a social media presence for Recovery International (RI) Kalamazoo. Currently they have the social media outlets but there has been a struggle to connect to the audience. This proposal will show suggestions for using Facebook, Twitter and Meet-Up to engage new members to join and to keep current members involved. Increase number of members by 25% Increase Facebook page likes by 25% By reaching out to this audience my hope it to draw in this demographic to RI meetings and inform them of the programs they have to offer 11 Strategy: To utilize various social media platforms to reach new and existing audiences of RI Kalamazoo. By creating constant and reliable content on each platform we hope to create a place for people to check for information about RI Kalamazoo. We also hope to create unity between social media platforms with the new RI Kalamazoo brand, examples of the social media RI brad are seen below. Twitter and Facebook Cover Photo Facebook & Twitter Profile Picture Tactics: Facebook 2 status post per week 12 24 hours response time to all wall post & messages Twitter 3 meaningful tweets a week 2 retweets per week Meet Up Increased number of RI Kalamazoo reviews Increase number of members by 25% Audience: The primary audience will be the current members of RI. The members of RI can range from all different ages and backgrounds. The secondary audience will be college age students. Measurement: The measurement of success for this social media plan will be the number of post on each social media site. If a Facebook post as a post that gets more than five likes or at least one share. I define a meaningful tweet as a tweet that gets favorite by multiple individuals. After the 3 month we will evaluate each individual social media platform, to look at success of post, number of followers, and likes. Evaluation We will evaluate the success of the social media posts by measuring the responses on each platform. Shares and Likes on Facebook and Tweets and favorites on Twitter provides analytics to assist in the evaluation. RI will collect discovery data about the source of the referral (Facebook, Meet Up) from participants. Timetable: this timetable will represent what a week (Oct. 27-Nov. 3) of social media activity will look like for RI Kalamazoo. All posts will occur either at 11 a.m. or 4 p.m., These times have been chosen due to high traffic times on the web according to research attached in the 13 appendix.. I recommend using Hootsuite to schedule post for Twitter and Facebook, you must manually update Meet Up. DATE Facebook Twitter Meet-Up 10/27/13 A friendly reminder about tomorrow's RI Kalamazoo Meeting. Included Time & Meeting Place. A short friendly reminder about tomorrow's RI Kalamazoo Meeting. Included Time & Meeting Place. A short friendly reminder about tomorrow's RI Kalamazoo Meeting. Included Time & Meeting Place. 10/28/13 Post a thank you to everyone who attended today’s meeting and post an inspirational quote from the book. Post a thank you to everyone who attended today’s meeting. 10/30/13 Post a mental health fact. Something along the lines of 1 in 3 people suffer from mental health disorders 10/31/13 Wish them a happy Halloween and post a reminder about next week’s meeting Wish them a happy Halloween 11/2/13 Reminder about Monday’s meeting! Be sure to include the date, time and place Reminder about Monday’s meeting! Be sure to include the date, time and place Reminder about Mondays meeting! Be sure to include the date, time and place 11/3/13 A friendly reminder about tomorrow's RI Kalamazoo Meeting. Included Time & Meeting Place. A short friendly reminder about tomorrow's RI Kalamazoo Meeting. Included Time & Meeting Place. A short friendly reminder about tomorrow's RI Kalamazoo Meeting. Included Time & Meeting Place. Post about next week’s meeting reminding them to come out. 14 RI Kalamazoo - Brochure Proposal Situation: Recovery International currently uses promotional material created by the national organization. RI Kalamazoo does not have a printed brochure with its own brand identity to provide information to direct people to the Kalamazoo chapter. Objective: The objective is informational. A new brochure would increase awareness of RI Kalamazoo by providing a brief description of the organization, its services, and contact information of the local community. Audience: Recovery International targets anyone over the age of 18 interested in overcoming obstacles relating to mental health. According to a 2011 survey by Kraus, Phillips, and Picket, the majority of participants in RI are Caucasian women in their 50s who suffer from depression. Most participants earn $20,000 or less per year, and are unemployed. The campaign will include this audience while also targeting a broader demographic regarding race, gender, and income. Tactic: A brochure will be created to communicate the local Kalamazoo chapter of Recovery International. It will include pictures of women and men from various racial backgrounds to promote a diverse, inclusive community. Concise descriptions will provide information of the national program as well as the local chapter. Contact information will direct people to the local chapter’s website, email address, and Meetup.com page. 15 The brochure will use a green color palette. An article in “Behavioral Healthcare” states the color green is “beneficial to reduce anxiety and bring about a calmer state of mind” (Call & Jantzen, 2012). Green is also associated with grass and trees, which signifies growth and health. Strategy: The brochure will provide a resource for current members to spread awareness of Recovery International’s Kalamazoo chapter to other in the Kalamazoo area. The brochure will communicate a distinct brand identity with a new logo and attractive images that communicate a healthy, inclusive community. Information about RI’s Kalamazoo community on Meetup.com will be included on the bookmark. This will help individuals connect via the social media platform most frequently used by the RI leadership in Kalamazoo. Timetable: The promotional campaign requires approximately three weeks to enact. A brochure design is included for approval. Once the final edit is complete and the quantity is determined, there are several options. Overnightprints.com will print and ship to Kalamazoo in 10 to 14 days. Another option is to visit a local printer. Budget: Below is a table with pricing estimates for several competitive printers. A-1 Printing and Allegra are local print shops with professional to assist in the proofing and printing process. Overnight Prints is more cost effective, but requires the user to upload the file. The file will be printed as uploaded without professional analysis. Shipping to Kalamazoo is included in the Overnight Prints estimate. 16 Printer A-1 Printing 131 E Michigan Ave Kalamazoo, MI 49007 (269) 381-0094 Allegra 6054 Lovers Lane Portage, MI 49002 (269) 324-0040 Overnight Prints Overnightprints.com Quantity 500 1,000 Cost Per Unit $.67 $.45 Total Cost $336.00 $446.00 100 500 1,000 $1.99 $.67 $.37 $198.53 $333.24 $370.65 100 500 1,000 $.83 $.26 $.19 $88.30 $128.27 $189.10 17 RI Kalamazoo - Bookmark Proposal Situation: Recovery International receives referrals from various organizations in Kalamazoo, including the Kalamazoo Public Library and Gryphon Place. RI’s page on Meetup.com also is an important avenue for promoting the organization. These efforts rely upon potential members to take initiative to discover RI and learn of its services. A promotional campaign would help the Kalamazoo community to better recognize Recovery International and understand how to get involved. Objective: The objective is informational. The primary purpose of the campaign is to increase awareness of the organization and provide information to make it easier for potential members to find its Kalamazoo Meet Up page. Audience: Recovery International targets anyone over the age of 18 interested in overcoming obstacles keeping them from mental health. RI Representative Fran Miller mentioned that reading is a characteristic common among individuals who experience success in the self-help program. Those who read the texts used during the support group are more likely to benefit from the principles. 18 Creating a campaign directed toward library patrons strategically targets readers who will benefit from the self-help program and will build on the positive relationship RI has with the Kalamazoo Public Library. Tactic: A promotional bookmark will be created for free distribution at the Kalamazoo Public Library. The bookmark will include an attention-getting photo, brief information about Recovery International, and the web address for its Kalamazoo Meet Up page. The initial push will occur at the Kalamazoo Public Library. After evaluation, the campaign can be implemented in other libraries in the greater Kalamazoo area. Strategy: The bookmarks will increase awareness of Recovery International to patrons of the Kalamazoo Public Library by engaging them with attractive images that communicate peace and calm. Information about RI’s Kalamazoo community on Meetup.com will be included on the bookmark. This will help individuals connect via the social media platform most frequently used by the RI leadership in Kalamazoo. Timetable: The promotional campaign requires a short amount of time to enact. A bookmark design is included for approval. Once the files are uploaded to Overnightprints.com and ordered, the bookmarks will arrive in 10 to 14 days. Prior to ordering, a meeting should be scheduled with a library administrator to receive permission, discuss details of where and when the bookmarks will be placed, and determine the quantity of bookmarks to be ordered. The administrator should be asked for referrals of other organizations that meet in the library for potential partnership in the campaign. 19 Budget: Overnight Prints provides a user-friendly interface and offers high quality products for a reasonable cost. The current price to have 1,000 bookmarks printed and shipped to Kalamazoo is $57.69. The number of bookmarks can be increased to 2,500 for a total cost of $96.18. While the price per unit is 5.8 cents to order 1,000 bookmarks, this cost drops to 3.8 cents per unit for an order of 2,500. Evaluation: The success of the campaign will be evaluated through the measurement of several variables. Recovery International will count the number of bookmarks taken by library patrons. This will provide the number of impressions the campaign has made. The number of views to RI’s Meetup.com page will also be tracked using Google Analytics. Tracking should begin one month prior to the campaign to provide a baseline of the amount of traffic the page receives. Tracking will continue until one month after the campaign is complete. Google Analytics also allows the location of the visitors to the page to be tracked. This helps to count traffic specifically from Kalamazoo. After the launch of the campaign, new participants in the Monday support community will be asked how they heard of the meeting. These measures will provide a picture of the number of individuals reached with the bookmarks, the number of page views to the Meet Up community, and the impact the campaign had on attracting new members. 20 Proposed Bookmark (Front) (Back) 21 RI Kalamazoo – Special Event Proposal Situation: Recovery International Kalamazoo is need of increasing its members. To create public awareness a point of entry event will be hosted by the organization on Western Michigan University’s campus. Audience: The primary audience is anyone 18-years and older with a mental illness or crisis. The secondary audiences are family members, the Kalamazoo community, and Western Michigan University. Objectives: The informational objectives will be to educate WMU students about the overall benefits RI can provide to lead them to recovery. Motivational objectives will include increasing members 18-30 years old by 50% from the previous year, and increasing member return rate from the event up 50% from the previous year. Strategy: The main goal is to increase public knowledge, reach out to more 18-30 year olds with a focus on WMU students, and increase long-term membership within RI. 22 Our strategy is to raise awareness of RI Kalamazoo around WMU through a Point of Entry Event. A Point of Entry Event is designed to introduce an audience of the who, what, where, when and how’s of the organization. Tactics: The Point of Entry Event will be used to inform the public of the organization on February 17, 2014. A room at the Bernhard Center will be rented out for the event and will include WMU catering for snacks and refreshments. The BHC will provide tables, chairs, and a projector. All refreshments and snacks will be ordered through WMU Catering. The catering can be ordered by calling the Bernhard Center office, at 387-4868, and having a representative assist in the ordering process. Pricing will vary depending on chosen items. The event will provide a panel of RI members who have been through the program to explain their experiences, provide information about RI and its holistic benefits, and answer questions. After the speakers have finished, there will be time for new comers to mingle with current members. Engraved wrench shaped key chains will be passed out at the event to remind members to “practice the Recovery International tools in their everyday life.” A news release will be sent out three weeks prior to the event to Western Michigan University's paper, The Western Herald. Posters will be 11x17 inches and will be placed on WMU’s campus in all residence halls, academic buildings, on bulletin boards, and kiosks. The posters will be printed from RSO Design, located in the Bernhard Center, and be presented to the Student Activities and Leadership Programs office, room 223 also on the top floor of the Bernhard Center, to be approved. 23 Calendar/Timetable: December 30, 2013- Order key chains and posters January 1, 2014- Book room and catering at the Bernhard Center. January 7, 2014- Invite members and guest speakers and distribute posters. February 1, 2014- Send news release to The Western Herald. February 15, 2014- Send a reminder email to speakers and current members. February 17, 2014- 5:30 pm -Point of Entry Event held at The Bernhard Center. -Repeat annually. Budget: Item 75 color posters at 11x17 inches ($1.10 each) A room at the Bernhard Center at Western Michigan University. - Includes chairs and a projector. Cost $82.10 $125.00 A 15-column inch ad in the Western Herald. $180.00 WMU Catering-Estimate (Cost will vary depending on items) $200 250 Engraved wrench key chains, from http://promotionalproductsonline.com/prod ucts/en graved-wrench-keychain.html Total Cost $330.00 $917.10 Evaluation/Measurement: At the end of the event, an anonymous survey will be handed out to each person to get feedback. The survey will be a combination of questions regarding their age, what they thought of the event, why they are attending, how they heard of the event, if they are new or existing members, and if new, are they interested in becoming members. A sign in sheet asking their name and age will also be placed at the entrance of the event room and again at each RI meeting. This will be used to keep track of how many 24 event attendees continue to go to RI meetings, and thus measure the success of the event by the amount of new and reoccurring members. 25 Sample Survey for Evaluation: Recovery International Kalamazoo Age: _____ Are you currently a member of RI? Yes No How did you hear of the event? Check all that apply: Personally invited by a member Word of mouth Saw a flyer / brochure Social Media / RI website Other: _________________ Did you find the event personally helpful? Why or why not? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Would you be interested in attending an RI meeting? Yes No What topics would you be interested in hearing about at meetings? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________ Reason(s) for attending: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________ 26 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Recovery International Kalamazoo Point of Entry Event KALAMAZOO, Mich: February 1, 2014- Recovery International (RI) Kalamazoo will host a Point of Entry Event at the Bernhard Center on Western Michigan University’s (WMU) campus Monday, February 17 at 5:30 p.m. The purpose of the event is to inform WMU’s students of the organization. RI members will have the opportunity to talk about their life experiences with RI and share the holistic benefits of attending meetings. Refreshments and snacks will be provided. “This event is our chance to let WMU’s students know there actually is help for them in our community,” says RI’s Kalamazoo main contact, Fran Miller. Recovery International is a peer lead, self-help support group designed in meeting format. The organizations goal is to provide support and approaches to recovery for ages 18-years and up who have suffered from mental illness or crisis, including depression and anxiety. For more information on the Point of Entry event, look for posters around WMU’s campus or contact Fran Miller at 269-344-9143 or Fran@RIKalamazoo.org. ### 27 Appendix I 28 29 RECOVERY INTERNATIONAL KALAMAZOO Fact Sheet Abraham Low, MD, founded Recovery International at the Institute of Illinois Research and Education Hospitals in 1937. The mission of Recovery International is to use Dr. Low’s cognitive-behavioral, peer-to-peer, self-help training system to help individuals gain skills to lead more peaceful and productive lives. RI’s self-help system consists of Low’s theories of will training, temper control, and symptom analysis, rather than psychoanalysis. In 1952, RI became an independent organization and select members began to facilitate the self-help meetings without professional supervision. The Recovery International system helps people overcome a variety of mental illnesses including but not limited to anger, anxiety, compulsions, depression, eating disorders, fears, panic attacks, social anxiety and stress. Recovery International has grown to 600 community-based meetings in the U.S., Canada, Ireland, Puerto Rico, Spain, Israel, India, and the United Kingdom. RI offers meetings available in person, via telephone, and online. RI Kalamazoo hosts meetings on Mondays at 11 a.m. in the First Congregational Church on S Park in Kalamazoo, Mich. More information can be found at Recoveryinternational.org, Rikalamazoo.org, or by searching RI Kalamazoo on Meetup.com. 30 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Recovery International of Kalamazoo: The Rebrand KALAMAZOO, Mich.: November 25 2013 - Recovery International (RI) has rebranded their Kalamazoo branch in hopes of increased connection with the community. RI is a cognitivebehavioral, peer-to-peer, self-help training system to help individuals gain skills to lead more peaceful and productive lives. RI’s goal is to provide support and approached for ages 18-years and up who have suffered from mental illness or crisis, including depression and anxiety. Fran Miller, area 100 contact for the Kalamazoo region, says, “We believe this rebrand will allow us to connect with the community in ways we couldn’t before.” RI has rebranded their materials and since launched their new website: www.RIKalamazoo.org, earlier this week. Complete with a new logo, Facebook and Twitter handles, and a freshly launched website, RI Kalamazoo’s transition is nearly complete. RI has been active in Kalamazoo for over 40 years and is hoping to increase meeting attendance through re-branding and website launch. RI Kalamazoo meets Mondays 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church: 129 South Park St., Kalamazoo, Mich. Fran Miller can be reached at 269-344-9143 or at Fran@RIKalamazoo.org. To find more information visit RIKalamazoo.org. Find us on Twitter: @RIKalamazoo and Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/RIKalamazoo. ### 31 Appendix II 32 33 34 35 A Few Words About Us Cont act KALAMAZOO RECOVERY INTERNATIONAL 36 37 Appendix III 38