A portable, proven playbook. Ready to travel.
Your State and 988. Built Together.
Proven 988 awareness and engagement campaign strategies, measured with rigor — ready to be designed and customized with your communities and delivering your goals
It Works.
Here's how to build it.
What does it take to move the needle on 988 awareness in a high-risk population — and prove it? In Georgia, the answer is a workforce-first strategy, a co-design imperative, and a partnership model built on trust, data, and earned credibility.
As new federal and state funding opportunities emerge, including upcoming grants due this fall, we're actively working with state behavioral health agencies, industry associations, and community organizations to bring this infrastructure to new states.
If your state is ready to invest in 988, we're ready to help you build it right.
Who we've worked with
The populations at highest risk of harm are best reached as workers and community members — through the people, places, and rituals already in their lives.
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Georgia's highest-risk occupation — 165% above the statewide suicide average. Co-designed with six industry associations and a quarterly advisory committee.
67.2% awareness · 61.8% jobsite signage recall
AGC Georgia · ABC Georgia · Home Builders Assoc. of Georgia · Georgia Hispanic Construction Association
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The 86 The Stigma Campaign put 988 into restaurant kitchens through co-designed tools — including branded 988 Sharpies now in 300+ Georgia restaurants.
300,000+ patrons reached · 60M+ media impressions
Georgia Restaurant Association · Giving Kitchen
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Faith and community partnerships extending 988 awareness into Georgia's small towns and agricultural communities through trusted-messenger networks.
Small-town & rural Georgia outreach
Goodwill Industries' Faith & Farms · Regional Council of Churches of Atlanta
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Campus activations and youth-serving partnerships. Women 18–34 are the highest-awareness demographic in the state — and its most active peer advocates.
63.8% awareness, women 18–34 · 14% prior usage
Campus partners · Georgia Association of Educators
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Stadium and fan-base activations bringing 988 into Georgia's sports culture through trusted athletic voices and venue partnerships.
Broad reach through sports community channels
University of Georgia · Atlanta United
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Healthcare & military
Clinical integration through pediatric partnerships and targeted programming for active military, veterans, and their families.
65.1% awareness, active military · 29% provider recall
AAP Georgia Chapter · Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
Case Studies
Strong Enough to Care. Tough Enough to Talk.
Construction: 67.2% awareness in Georgia's deadliest occupation
Georgia construction workers die by suicide at 58.6 per 100,000 — the highest rate of any occupation in the state, and 165% above the statewide average. The campaign was co-designed with an industry advisory committee — and eventually renamed, at the committee's insistence, from "Building Hope" to language the jobsite actually uses.
The renamed campaign launched across Atlanta-area jobsites, statewide billboards, trade publications, and 988ga.org/construction. A Swayable survey closed April 14, 2026: construction-industry awareness at 67.2%, against 48.7% in the general population. An 18.5-point lead for the state's highest-risk occupation.
67.2% awareness - 61.8% jobsite signage recall - 17.7% toolbox-talk recall
AGC Georgia · ABC Georgia · Home Builders Association of Georgia · Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association · Georgia Hispanic Construction Association · The Hispanic Construction Institute
86 The Stigma
Food service: reaching workers through the tools they already use
Co-discovery with restaurant operators produced the campaign's defining insight: the Sharpie is the single most-used consumable in any restaurant kitchen. Branded 988 Sharpies — distributed through industry partner channels — put the crisis line number into workers' hands dozens of times every shift. Thousands are now in active use across 300+ Georgia restaurants.
In eight weeks: 40+ participating restaurants, 2,500 food service workers, 300,000+ patrons reached statewide, and 60 million+ media impressions. The Georgia Restaurant Association became a behavioral health legislative advocate through the entire 2024 Georgia session — and the campaign was elevated at the NASMHPD national conference as a model for other states.
40+ restaurants - 2,500 workers reached - 300,000+ patrons - 60M+ media impressions
Georgia Restaurant Association · Giving Kitchen
Youth & Families
Youth outreach: building a generation of 988 advocates
In Georgia, youth-forward messaging, a social-first channel strategy, and campus partnerships have built a generational cohort of advocates. Women 18–34 are the highest-awareness demographic in the state at 63.8% — and 14% report prior personal use, the highest of any segment.
Three in four Georgians (75.1%) say they will recommend 988 to someone in need. The campaign's next phase operationalizes that population as trained gatekeepers — equipping them with the language, confidence, and cultural permission to make the call that matters.
63.8% awareness, women 18–34 - 75.1% recommend intent statewide - 14% prior usage rate
Campus and youth-serving organization network · Georgia Association of Educators
Pro and College Sports Partnerships
Sports partnerships: utilizing athletes as trusted messengers
Men between the ages of 30 and 70 in Georgia are among the most at-risk populations for behavioral health crises, including suicide and substance-related deaths (CDC WONDER mortality data, 2018–2023). However, we also know that sports teams are highly effective platforms to engage men and reduce mental health stigma:
Trusted Messengers: Athletes and teams are powerful mental health messengers, especially for men. When these figures speak out, they challenge cultural norms and create permission structures for help-seeking (Kane et al., 2022).
Evidence of Behavior Change: Campaigns involving professional sports have shown increased willingness among male fans to discuss and seek help for mental health issues when messaging is embedded in sports contexts (Breslin et al., 2017; Cormack et al., 2021).
Our campaign leveraged the trusted voices of athletes, coaches, and sports communities to reduce stigma and encourage help-seeking behaviors as a strategic public health intervention.
4 Pro Sports Teams - 2 College Teams - 227M+ print/online impressions - 5.5M+ broadcast impressions
Atlanta Braves · Atlanta Falcons · Atlanta United · Atlanta Hawks · University of Georgia · Georgia Southern University
“We know 988 can save lives. But awareness and trust are everything. This campaign ensures we’re reaching the workers where they are — with tools, training, and real conversations.”
Ready to bring 988 to your state?
Federal and state funding for 988 awareness is expanding — including grants due this fall. Our Plan. Partner. Program. Prove.™ methodology gives you a roadmap from strategy through independent evaluation.
