Client: United States Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Project: Nationwide Community Outreach Conferences
CMI Competencies: Marketing Research | Training | Event Management | Diverse Groups | Community Engagement

Client Need
Recent Census data indicates great challenges in tribal communities throughout the United States. Problems with affordability, housing quality, poverty, unemployment, overcrowding, lack of infrastructure and low household incomes are major challenges faced by the American Indian communities. The Department of Public & Indian Housing sought to conduct a comprehensive study of housing needs in Indian Country requiring outreach conferences to provide solutions and assistance to their communities in need.

CMI's Solution
CMI planned and executed seven outreach meetings and conferences throughout the United States including Anchorage, AK; Denver, CO; Hollywood, FL; Honolulu, HI; Oklahoma City, OK; Reno, NV; and Seattle, WA within a six-month period.

CMI organized the project management, site selection, program and agenda preparation, curriculum development and production, graphic design, as well as other marketing and visual aid design and implementation, event advertising, registration, program team coordination, including event management team, subject matter experts (SMEs), breakout session facilitators, city officials and dignitaries and designed and implemented marketing. 

Additionally, the CMI team assisted HUD in identifying and securing presenters for speaking roles. CMI was responsible for all logistics, including arrangements at the sites for culturally appropriate opening ceremony activities and preparation of a final report for HUD worldwide web.

The CMI team worked in conjunction with major stakeholders at HUD national headquarters in Washington, D.C. and seven HUD regional offices throughout the United States to establish a customized, culturally appropriate agenda for each outreach conference including representation and participation from federal agencies, private sector, non-profit and state entities.

The Results
As a result of seven successful conferences, HUD was able to successfully inform participants about upcoming initiatives, identify key problem areas and barriers, provide a forum to examine and discuss the formulation, implementation and possible benefits of a comprehensive study on housing needs, and receive community and other stakeholder advice and assistance from conference participants.

The active participation provided to this forum provided the right environment to exchange ideas about improvements for the Indian Country, identify key problem areas and barriers, find solutions to problems, and develop strategies for future action. The final report documented logistics and results, and contributed to meeting the US Congressional mandate to study, document and report on this national area of focus.