Home Forward, Urban League of Portland and Le Chevallier Strategies

Event planning team honored at National Association of Government Communicators’ international Blue Pencil & Gold Screen awards reception 

NEW ORLEANS (MAY 28, 2024) – Home Forward, Oregon’s largest public housing agency, Urban League of Portland and Portland-based national public affairs firm Le Chevallier Strategies were awarded the National Association of Government Communicators’ (NAGC) prestigious Blue Pencil & Gold Screen award in New Orleans last week for the Hattie Redmond Apartments grand opening event. The event planning team was awarded 2nd place in the “Special Event or Conference” category as part of NAGC’s annual international awards program reception. 

“We are grateful for this recognition because it again highlights Home Forward’s unique partnership with Urban League of Portland as the co-developer of Hattie Redmond Apartments,” said Home Forward CEO Ivory Mathews. “The grand opening also allowed us to raise awareness about promising solutions and policies that keep people exiting homelessness stably housed.”  

Each year NAGC selects a handful of communicators and projects across three dozen categories for the award program. This year the award program received 361 award entries nationwide. Project winners represented all levels of government, including federal, military, state and local public entities.Last year’s Event category winners were the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Texas Broadband Development Office of Community Engagement. 

NAGC Board President Tabitha Clark recognized the event planning team saying, “Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition from the National Association of Government Communicators. This achievement represents your exceptional talent, hard work and dedication to excellence in government communication.”  

More than 75 community members, residents, elected officials, funders, housing partners and members of the media attended the grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 4, 2023. The community celebration also featured a self-guided building tour, music and catering from a neighborhood restaurant. 

“We used the opportunity of the grand opening of the Hattie Redmond apartments to tell a more accurate story about the root causes of homelessness in our region: historically racist housing policies alongside decades of political indifference affordable housing,” says Urban League of Portland President and CEO Nkenge Harmon Johnson. “Our partnership with Home Forward also demonstrates the importance of public agencies to be part of the solution partnering with culturally specific organizations like the Urban League of Portland.”  

Ariane Le Chevallier and Dana Freedenfeld of Le Chevallier Strategies worked with Home Forward to lead media outreach and event materials development and Urban League of Portland led event logistics. Event catering was provided by Miss’ipi Chef. News stories ran in dozens of media outlets, including The Oregonian, the region’s largest newspaper, a live Think Out Loud interview on NPR affiliate OPB and an in-depth follow-up story, Portland Business Journal, all major network TV affiliates, and The Skanner and Portland Observer, two publications serving the Black community. 

“Community-driven events like this help change the narrative in the media about thorny social issues,” said Le Chevallier Strategies Founder and CEO Ariane Le Chevallier. “This event allowed us to tell a solutions-based story to counter negative narratives, stereotypes and stigmas about the unhoused community.”

Awards ceremony and Hattie Redmond Apartments Grand Opening photos and video can be viewed here.

### 

About Home Forward 

Home Forward is the largest provider of affordable housing in the state of Oregon. Its mission is to ensure that the people of the community are sheltered. Home Forward has a special responsibility to those who encounter barriers to housing because of income, disability, or special need. Go to homeforward.org or call (503) 802-8300 for more information. 

About Urban League of Portland  

The Urban League of Portland’s mission is to empower African Americans and others to achieve equality in education, employment, health, economic security and quality of life. Since 1945, the civil rights and social justice organization has served all of Oregon and Southwest Washington with a unique blend of advocacy and services to help community members thrive. For nearly 80 years, the Urban League of Portland has existed solely to address and respond to institutional racism while working to stabilize African Americans and other Oregonians. Learn more at ulpdx.org.  

About Le Chevallier Strategies 

Le Chevallier Strategies is an award-winning, women-owned boutique public affairs and strategic communications firm based in Portland, Ore. We exclusively support mission-driven clients in the public, private and nonprofit sectors on the national, state and local level. We meet clients at the intersections of politics, public policy and communications. Learn more about how we build bridges to causes and campaigns at lechevallierstrategies.com. 

Contact:

Martha Calhoon
Chief Communications Officer
Home Forward
Martha.Calhoon@homeforward.org 
503-313-2657

Meera Bowman-Johnson
(Urban League of Portland) 
mbowmanjohnson@ulpdx.org 
503-884-5571 

Dana Freedenfeld
(Le Chevallier Strategies) 
dana@lechevallierstrategies.com  
917-291-9705