Fountain House
Creative Strategy and Copy: Samie Detzer
Design: Trisha Louise Prieto, Shannon Kelly
Agency: Blue State
Client: Fountain House
As Creative Director and Lead Strategist, I helped Fountain House launch a more integrated, performance-driven email, web, and paid fundraising program — designed to raise awareness while respecting the gravity of the work. With an audience that includes people with lived experience of serious mental illness, the work demanded tonal precision — honoring real stakes without extinguishing hope.
For Mental Health Awareness Month, I helped Fountain House find a creative voice that centered the daily realities of members and the power of community in action. The result: exponential fundraising growth driven by messaging that felt authentic, timely, and unmistakably human.
When federal SNAP cuts threatened the food security of members, I led a SNAP Benefits rapid-response fundraising campaign across email, paid media, and web that moved from creative brief to live in days — raising significant funds as Fountain House scaled the number of people it could serve. Proof that urgency and emotional precision, when paired with real-world issues, are the most powerful fundraising tools available.
