objectives

Disturbed by the growing population of children in the U.S. under-served by access to healthcare, singer/songwriter Paul Simon collaborated with Irwin Redlener, M.D, a pediatrician and colleague from the “USA for Africa” project, to address the medical needs of these children. In l987, they co-founded The Children’s Health Fund (CHF), an organization to create, fund and operate mobile health care units to bring much needed primary care to homeless children in New York City and, eventually, impoverished urban and isolated rural areas across the nation.

For over 10 years DKC has been retained by CHF to create positive local, regional and national attention in major media to ensure continued support, awareness and growth of CHF.

strategy

As part of its public relations strategy, DKC positioned Dr. Redlener as a leading health care advocate and expert on overall children’s health issues by regularly identifying issues such as access to quality medical care and taking a stand in high profile media such as The New York Times and The Washington Post.

In May 2009, DKC was instrumental in setting up and executing a major news media series, called “Children of the Recession” on behalf of CHF and in partnership with CBS News and USA Today. For one week, this series profiled the plight of children suffering due to the recession, with heavy focus on the efforts of CHF.

result highlights

Through the generous funding of corporations, foundations and caring individuals, CHF’s successful and pioneering medical care and advocacy model first developed in New York has expanded across America. Currently, the CHF’s national network of 16 pediatric programs has treated over 300,000 children.

DKC has secured regular feature and news coverage in major daily newspapers, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, New York Daily News, USA Today, New York Post, as well as mentions in influential syndicated columns. In addition, DKC helped CHF establish a regular presence on The New York Times op-ed page, while securing regular national broadcast features, including the “Today Show,” “Good Morning America,” NBC “Nightly News,” ABC “World News Tonight,” CBS “Evening News” and multiple appearances on CNN, as well as local New York and other market affiliates.