CHWC is now Build WyCo.
Learn more about our brand upate!
Email us your questions at [email protected].
For more than 25 years, the name “Community Housing of Wyandotte County” has accurately captured our focus on housing as a bedrock component of wellbeing, the place-based nature of our work, and the community of focus.
CHWC was founded by Kansas City, Kansas residents to improve quality of life, including housing, homeownership and larger community development, for Kansas City, Kansas residents. Today, we still have that same focus. Our mission, values, and vision are staying the same.
Beginning in 2018, CHWC’s board, staff, and key stakeholders identified our public brand and community engagement as an area of growth.
As we discussed what it would take to achieve our vision and strategic goals, clear themes began to emerge:
- We’d need to work closely with neighborhood leaders and other residents to build housing that fits their needs.
- We’d need to create opportunities for residents to plug into our leadership structures.
- We’d need to focus on long-term strategies that support our neighbors in overcoming the root causes of the lack of resources that hold our community back.
Most importantly, we’d need the whole community – not just the few blocks where CHWC homes line the streets in concentrated displays of impact – to see themselves in our work, to see our organization as by, for, and about Wyandotte County residents.
Beginning in 2023, we began an information gathering process, conducting targeted surveys in our neighborhoods, speaking with existing board members, staff, and other key stakeholders to get their feedback on our brand.
What came to the surface was a need to clearly describe all aspects of our work. At the same time, we needed to continue to show that housing is a foundational part of our mission, and to keep the emphasis on Wyandotte County as the geographic center of our work.
The brand needed to be welcoming to neighborhoods outside the original footprint of our work, to emphasize the things people love about our community, and to speak to residents' primary areas of concern. It needed to illustrate that our mission purpose requires multiple strategies centered around one key goal, and show that we are working in many distinct neighborhoods that make up one cohesive whole. Finally, the brand needed to stand out from local government agencies and other local nonprofits.
In response to these findings, our designer produced four logo and name options that would address these needs. Using a rubric based on our key brand challenges, staff and board scored the options and identified Build WyCo as the preferred brand name and a tri-color house logo as the preferred visual identity for the new brand.
The new logo emphasizes that housing is important to our mission, while also showing that it takes more than one thread or strategy to build a strong community. The three stripes in the house represent that strong communities are made of diverse parts, and also show that building strong communities requires multiple intertwined approaches.
The new name, Build WyCo, can be used to describe all aspects of our work, not just housing. Programs can be summarized in a few key phrases, eg "Building Homes," and "Building Community."
The new name and logo is easier to say and remember. It evokes an emotional response, using words and phrases that are meaningful to residents by focusing on a beloved place and a powerful idea: That together, we can build a Wyandotte County where every person can feel at home in a neighborhood they love.
Frequently Asked Questions
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