Support House

Opening the door to a new brand home

Support & Housing Halton is an agency that has evolved repeatedly since its founding over 30 years ago.

Developed to provide individuals with mental health and addictions issues with a sense of home, the agency has grown to not only multiple facilities across and beyond the Halton region – but it also extended to providing system services and peer support training. Two sub-brands: TEACH and the Centre for Innovation and Peer Support were launched to help similar agencies across the country provide and develop effective peer support programs.

Over the years, as the definition of the Support and Housing Halton brand evolved, its brand stayed static, growing ever more limited when it came to communicating its comprehensive service offering to clients and partners – and its impact on the community to funders. They entrusted Parcel with the rebrand exercise.

We started with an extensive interview study featuring staff, partners, and clients of Support House housing and programs – this provided powerful insight into how meaningful the agency’s work has been – and yet highlighted some confusion as to the services offered and the difference between it and other similar organizations.There was also mass confusion as to how TEACH and the Centre for Innovation and Peer Support connected with the larger brand.

We recommended a new name, Support House, and identity to clarify the offering but still give clients a sense of recognition and security. The redesign of the brand and marketing materials sparked an overhaul in communications process – introducing a new streamlined contact flow – whether that was by phone or social media channels. We developed extensive brand guidelines and templates for brand-aligned communications – including guidelines on how to write for the brand, including inclusivity guidelines to ensure respectful communication at every touchpoint.