Express Strategies Supports Mental Health Ct on News 8
MAY 2023
Throughout Mental Health Awareness Month in May, Mental Health Connecticut (MHC) is partnering with WTNH News 8, presenting the stories of Connecticut residents who will share the unique ways stigma has impacted them and how they found ways to heal and move forward. MHC is also raising funds to support the expansion of its arts and wellness programming into Hartford through a new partnership with the Hispanic Health Council.
Express Strategies, a Hartford-based public relations firm, is proud to sponsor weekly interview segments on News 8, aimed at increasing awareness and understanding of the challenges and triumphs, progress and potential, of individuals across Connecticut’s communities.
New interview segments will be telecast each Monday morning in May during Good Morning Connecticut on News 8, which airs 10:00-11:00 AM. Four Connecticut residents who are a part of MHC’s Let’s Face It campaign will be featured.
Among the featured guests will be Luis Pérez, President and CEO, and Suzi Craig, Chief Strategy Officer, Mental Health Connecticut, along with residents of Connecticut who have confronted mental health challenges. Two of the guests will be Dawn Ennis, the first transgender journalist in the U.S. to come out in network TV news, and Kenny Mercer, the creator of hip hop festival Tour for Life.
During Mental Health Month this year, individuals are encouraged to “look around and look within,” and consider every part of our environment and its effect on our mental health and well-being. Mental Health Connecticut is renewing it’s Let’s Face It initiative, with an invigorated conversation on mental health and stigma, and a focus on communities.
Mental Health Month has been observed nationally since 1949. There has been greater interest and attention on mental health in recent years, largely due to the impact of COVID-19 and the societal restrictions and health concerns that resulted, with impacts evident throughout our families and communities.
“Giving voice to your experience with mental illness, trauma, or any life-changing experience is one of the most powerful tools to combat stigma and shame. Our aim is to help Connecticut residents and communities see value in supporting one another, knowing we are not alone in needing support and ultimately taking preventative measures for our health, which is critical now more than ever,” said Luis B. Perez, President & CEO of Mental Health Connecticut.
“It is a privilege to support the efforts of Mental Health Connecticut, and the impact their meaningful initiatives have on individual lives,” said Express Strategies Managing Principal Bernard Kavaler. “Their dedication to make a difference is inspiring, and reflects a determination that is unwavering.”
Express Strategies, founded in 2012, provides strategic communications and public policy consulting, with expertise in advocacy writing, project management and media relations, and an acute understanding of the public implications of policy decisions made by an organization.
Mental Health Connecticut supports individuals with lived experience as a trauma-informed and person-centered organization. MHC uses only evidence-based and best practices in a recovery model approach to care, which means the organization helps individuals obtain a safe home, activate whole health living, find fulfillment and purpose, and become actively engaged in the community.
MHC’s treatment programs are accredited by CARF (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) and MHC is a Platinum-Certified organization for the Bell Seal for Workplace Mental Health by Mental Health America (MHA). More information can be seen at www.mhconn.org.
WTNH News 8 provides news, weather and information around the clock through its television newscasts, WTNH.com website and through its digital and mobile platforms. WTNH News 8, an ABC affiliate, and WCTX, a MyNetworkTV affiliate, serve more than 1,014,160 households.
Express Strategies works with global corporations and local businesses, for-profit and nonprofit organizations, professional associations, educational institutions, foundations and industries in various disciplines. Express Strategies is accredited by the Better Business Bureau, with an A+ rating.
The Express Strategies Collaborative, a group of independent business owners, offers expertise in graphic design and website development, voiceovers, video profiles for businesses and organizations, and social media consulting. To learn more, visit www.express-strategies.com.
Express Strategies Supports Launch of Resources Website
OCTOBER 2022
The Connecticut State Dental Association (CSDA) has selected local communications firm Express Strategies, led by West Hartford resident Bernard Kavaler, to assist in the launch of the PROPS Center, a new subsidiary of the CSDA, which provides Professional Resources, Office Products & Services for businesses in the dental and medical services industry and other professional offices in Connecticut.
A new website, curating a rapidly expanding array of services and products, has been launched at www.propscenter.com, with many partner companies offering exclusive benefits and customized discount pricing.
The PROPS Center “activates the power of group purchasing and resource networking to help businesses thrive – providing substantial savings, improving office staff efficiency, and offering solutions that respond to specific business needs,” Kavaler said. “And it’s all in one place on the PROPS Center website.”
Services available from the growing PROPS Center roster of partners include cybersecurity protection, automated insurance verification, in-house membership platforms, software for HIPAA and OSHA compliance, secure shredding, and hazardous waste disposal.
Current business partners include Doctors Internet, AirPay, Sunbit, Abyde, Black Talon, W.B. Mason, Shred Smart/BioServe, Dental HQ and Prosperident. Additional partners will be announced in the coming weeks.
Express Strategies, which provides communication services including media relations, advocacy writing and content development, designed and developed the PROPS Center website, supporting CSDA in its launch.
For more about Express Strategies visit www.express-strategies.com; to learn more about the PROPS Center, contact Director Mike Scaringe at mscaringe@propscenter.com or by phone at 860-378-1805.
EXPRESS STRATEGIES Launches Booklet Series Providing Insight Into Public Relations
FEBRUARY 2023
Express Strategies, a local public relations consultancy founded a decade ago by West Hartford communication professional Bernard Kavaler, has produced its first two quick-read booklets in a new series providing insights for businesses, nonprofits and organizations of all sizes and stripes.
The latest booklet, published this month, is 7 Ways to Boost Your PR Profile. Noting that “how you approach achieving your objectives can make the difference between gaining traction and spinning your wheels,” the booklet includes time-tested suggestions, urging that organizations “sprinkle numbers generously, without drowning a great story,” and “offer a concrete set of facts and figures that reinforce the narrative and reassure the unconvinced.”
The first booklet in the series, 6 Secret Benefits of Collaboration, highlights how collaboration can be achieved within or across organizations, and the impact it can have on those organizations. Collaboration, for example, can lead to the “spark of a new idea, a new direction or new concept revealed, or an innovative approach hammered out.”
“Collaboration,” the publication points out, “can be a breath of fresh air” or lead to a “potentially more effective, productive or lucrative path forward.” It was published in 2022.
Express Strategies provides strategic communications and public policy consulting, with particular expertise in advocacy writing, project management and media relations.
Recognized as one of the region’s outstanding PR firms, Express Strategies has developed expertise working with global corporations and local businesses, for-profit and nonprofit organizations, professional associations, educational institutions, and foundations.
The two booklets can be obtained free of charge, either as a PDF download or in hard copy, by contacting info@express-strategies.com. Additional booklets in the insight series are slated for publication later this year.