Self-Help Enterprises is a national non-profit that helps homeowners help themselves. Their main initiative allows people to physically help build their own homes and basically make their down payment in sweat equity instead of cash. They also help with education and resources, including access to green energy and clean drinking water.

I worked with  California’s Central Valley office, a team of over 100 people, to take their content-rich site from the dark ages and into the future through a custom redesign.

Self-Help Enterprises worked with Brian on the re-design of our website and annual report. Brian worked quickly, was very responsive, and understood our vision for modernizing our website and marketing materials. He managed these complex projects with professionalism and delivered a great product for us. We look forward to working with him in the future.
-Self-Help Enterprises Staff

What They Were Doing Right

When it comes to digital media, you’ll hear that content is king for a reason. Good written content is one of the most valuable online resources because it actually helps people. The folks at Self-Help had some of the most critical information available on topics like Homeownership and Community Development as well as listings of rental communities and volunteer opportunities. The knowledge they provide has helped thousands of families build a solid foundation for their future.

Where They Needed Help

When the team from Self-Help approached me for a redesign, the problem was that their greatest asset, their wealth of content, was slowly overwhelming them. Their site was running on an outdated, custom CMS that was becoming more of a hinderance than an asset. They were losing time mucking around in little boxes of obscure HTML code to make change on each of their 100+ pages instead of focusing on their mission.

What We Did

Because your CMS should be working for you we started from the ground up. Rebuilding the site to run on WordPress allowed us to leverage custom post types and meta storage in an effort to organize their data. Instead of dealing with code, the entire system was automated to display what they want exactly the way they wanted it.

Demographic research suggested that access to home internet was limited, but mobile views were prevalent, so the site was build from the ground up to be responsive and mobile-friendly. In addition, we rounded it out with custom graphic elements, smooth scrolling effects, and even a custom icon font that could be easily used throughout the site.

Now their site is focused, easy to navigate, and elegant, making it quicker than ever for them to connect their services with those that need it most.

Screenshots

Visit www.selfhelpenterprises.org