Restore Our Community Coalition (ROCC)

Challenge: The Restore Our Community Coalition organizers needed to expand their message to a larger audience. Jackson Parker Communications was retained to:

• Inform the Hamlin Park Community and greater Buffalo community
• Engage residents, community collaborators, and key influencers
• Seek political (local, regional, state and national) support
• Encourage others to join the ROCC initiative

ROCC is a group of concerned citizens and organizations who aim to remediate the devastation and civic injustice caused by the construction of Route 33 in Buffalo, NY. ROCC seeks to restore the Humboldt Parkway Community that has suffered from decades of decay and economic decline due to the construction of the Kensington Expressway. The community leaders would like to revive the green parkway that will serve as a gateway connecting the historic Humboldt Parkway community to downtown and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

Results: Serving as a PR consultant, Jackson Parker developed the “I Remember” Campaign and media strategy. A ROCC website was created, social media enhanced, and a promotional postcard and bookmark were developed. To launch the “I Remember” Campaign ROCC hosted a holiday reception to hear and share the stories and learn more about the committee’s plan to encourage a restored community. News stories were successfully pitched to major news media and an Op Ed was written and published by the Buffalo News. The “I Remember” Campaign press coverage has included newspaper and magazine stories, radio and website blogs, social media, and television coverage.

April 2016 Update: The organization received the attention of state political leaders including the Governor of New York State and was granted $6 million dollars to study covering a three-quarter-mile stretch of the Kensington expressway, transforming it into a tree-lined parkway. www.roccbuffalo.org

Duration of project: 9 month Awareness and Engagement Project