By The Editorial Board | Chicago Tribune
PUBLISHED: May 17, 2025 at 8:06 AM EDT
Raise Up, which is the new name for the Lorain Metropolitan Housing Authority, is fitting since the agency is expanding its services to elevate its residents.
After 93 years of providing affordable housing, LMHA rebranded as Raise Up to emphasize its increased commitment to the communities it serves.
The agency is focusing on creating a stronger Lorain County by providing expanded affordable housing options and enhanced services to uplift and move the community forward.
Raise Up owns and manages 1,649 affordable apartments in Lorain County and manages 3,500 Housing Choice vouchers that collectively impact more than 13,000 individuals.
The agency’s new mission statement is, “At Raise Up, people come first. While affordable housing is the heart of what we do, our work does not stop there. We are committed to providing resources that help individuals thrive and our community grow.”
And, its new vision statement reads, “A Lorain County free of housing insecurity where everyone has a place to call home and opportunities to grow and thrive.”
Both the mission and vision for Raise Up are positive signs that it will do more for people.
In addition, Raise Up’s rebranding features a new color logo and enhanced website called RUPartners.org.
Gale Sayers Proby, chief operating officer of Raise Up, points out that the new brand shows exactly what the agency plans to do: move the community forward, raise residents upward and be an economic driver for the region.
Judith Carlin, chief executive director of Raise Up, adds the new look reflects organizational change and helps with the stigma associated with public housing.
Raise Up is reflecting its direction to community involvement, engagement and development.
The rebranding is not something Carlin and Sayers Proby just thought of one night and decided to change.
They noticed that public housing authorities across the country have rebranded with name changes and logos, and expanded their missions.
Like Raise Up has done, those agencies expanded their missions and have become community agencies.
Usually, rebranding occurs in the private sector and not so much with tax-payer funded entities.
However, in the last 15 years, several public housing agencies changed their names and identities.
In 2011, the Portland Housing Authority in Oregon changed its name to Home Forward.
In developing the new name and identity, Home Forward re-emphasized its commitment to engage its residents in moving their lives forward.
Another agency that changed its name was the Dover Housing Authority to Whittier Falls in Dover, N.H.
The main motivation for the change in Dover was driven by removing the stigma for residents who lived in public housing.
Whittier Falls wanted to protect residents from the negative undertone of words like projects and housing.
Fort Collins Housing Authority in Colorado changed its name to Housing Catalyst.
The public housing authority picked the name to match its vision, which was about change and getting people to change.
The vision for Housing Catalyst was to be a catalyst for change for residents living in the housing owned by the agency.
Another Colorado agency changed its name from Lakewood Housing Authority to Metro West Housing Solutions.
Metro West Housing Solutions went from a traditional Section 8 shop to a developer of high-quality housing.
And in Texas, the San Antonio Housing Authority changed its name to Opportunity Home San Antonio.
The new name was an attempt to distance the agency from an association with discriminatory policies when it was created nearly 100 years ago.
Raise Up is simply doing what some of the other agencies did.
Raise Up is publicly signaling its new direction and renewed commitment to serving Lorain County through expanded and improved housing opportunities, improved resident services, community leadership and program offerings.
Raise Up is letting the community know it is a driver and catalyst for the community, and will be an improvement for its residents.
It wants to convey its commitment extends far beyond housing.
And, Raise Up believes it is aligned with the community’s vision that if residents succeed, Raise Up succeeds and the county will prosper and grow.
Raise Up and the other public housing authorities that changed their names showed creativity, not only with the new labels, but also by recognizing that some people really need a little more help.
It’s not just placing low-income families in homes anymore.
The agencies do far more.
The Raise Up name is catchy, but its plan is to foster stable and make healthy communities.
Original source: https://www.morningjournal.com/2025/05/17/raise-up-a-catchy-name-but-rebranding-is-serious-editorial/