Morreale Communications and Illinois Public Health Association Win Chicago's Top Public Relations Honor

Internationally recognized Pandemic Health Navigator Program secures PRSA Skyline Award for Community Relations Program of the Year

CHICAGO, Nov. 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Morreale Communications and the Illinois Public Health Association emerged as winners of the Public Relations Society of America Chicago Chapter Skyline Award in the Community Relations Program of the Year category for their partnership to deliver Illinois' Pandemic Health Navigator Program. Considered the premier award competition in Chicago's public relations industry, the Skyline Awards celebrate creativity and innovation in public relations and showcase business impact and results.

Working with the Illinois Public Health Association (IPHA), Illinois Primary Healthcare Association (IPHCA) and more than 80 community organizations across Illinois, Morreale delivered a statewide communications strategy designed to mitigate the spread of misinformation related to COVID-19 and to connect the hardest hit, underserved populations of Illinois to vital resources.

"We were honored to have been tapped to develop and lead a statewide communications strategy for such meaningful and transformational work," said Kim Morreale McAuliffe, President/CEO of Morreale Communications. "This was mission driven work that our entire team was humbled to be part of. We're honored to be recognized with the Chicago Skyline Award and to deliver advocacy, public engagement and media strategies in our communities."

The Illinois Public Health Association (IPHA) launched the COVID-19 Pandemic Health Navigator (PHN) program to adequately address community needs during the pandemic crisis. For the PHN program to be successful, the IPHA needed to conduct a broad communications and marketing campaign targeting the various communities throughout the state, while also understanding that COVID perceptions differ in different regions.

"When building the Pandemic Health Navigator Program, we knew we needed a communications team that had the experience and relationships to strengthen our program in the state's COVID-19 effort and we turned right away to Morreale," said Tom Hughes, Executive Director of IPHA. "Because of Morreale's deep experience and media relationships, coupled with their data-driven, collaborative approach, our program was able to engage with some of the hardest to reach audiences and effectively address the critical public health issues during the pandemic."

The integrated, statewide community relations program included recruitment, stakeholder engagement, research, branding, and content media relations. Morreale worked with regional leaders and community-based organizations across Illinois to arm navigators with information through building an educational curriculum, designing branded marketing materials, and developing messages to resonate with local communities.

As a result of this integrated and multi-faceted strategy, the Pandemic Health Navigator Program hit a number of achievements in the battle against COVID-19: Over 85 community-based organizations and federally qualified health centers have partnered in the program, more than 500 Community Health Workers hired and trained and most importantly- 10,000 plus residents have been provided resources across the state of Illinois.

Morreale is a leading certified woman-owned business that partners with businesses and organizations during times of change, crisis and opportunities. Driven by the desire to empower clients by activating their voices, clients seek the firm out to deliver fully integrated communications solutions that connect, engage and educate audiences to transform outcomes. With an 100% female and minority leadership team and 86% female and minority workforce, their strength lies in their ability to activate the power, perspective, relationships and experiences of their diverse team. Learn more about the award-winning firm at Morreale Communications.

SOURCE Morreale Communications