Hear the Heart of Wilshire in their New Video Spot
Directed by Verdin and produced by videographer Patrick Ang, a new two-minute video is helping Wilshire Health & Community Services communicate the impact of their services that simply can’t be put into words.
The Background
The work Wilshire Health & Community Services is doing behind the scenes in our community is both intangible and invaluable. With services ranging from hospice and home health care to mediation services to practical help for patients and caregivers, everything they do has a common thread: helping people live better lives. Wilshire is the organization that is there with resources and compassion when people in SLO and northern Santa Barbara Counties need help moving forward.
Working with Wilshire, the Verdin team has become inspired by the way they care and their willingness to do whatever it takes to help their patients and clients. Along with developing their new website, we’ve been leading another significant project for this client: channeling that heart and compassion into a video spot that helps raise community awareness about the valuable resources Wilshire offers.
Many patients of Wilshire have experienced some of their services, but don’t realize the breadth of what they do. And some community members simply don’t know they’re here to help. Video has an unmatched ability to tap into and communicate universal human emotions, and we knew this video needed to be special to demonstrate the genuine way that Wilshire meets real people’s needs on the Central Coast.
The Video
Who can best attest to the genuine heart of Wilshire? The patients and families they’ve supported over the years. As Verdin put together some initial ideas for the direction of the video, we knew that the most authentic way to tell this story was through personal accounts – in an interview format.
But – as anyone who’s stared into a camera lens knows – it’s difficult to relax and be vulnerable while you’re being recorded. And it’s equally difficult to communicate in just a few interview snippets how Wilshire has supported these community members through some of the toughest moments of their lives.
We started by simply having phone conversations with former clients and patients of Wilshire. We chatted, heard their stories, shed a few tears with them, and asked questions that helped us shape the direction of the video.
The stories we heard became the foundation of the video. We then asked some of these courageous men and women to share their experiences on camera.
The two-minute video tells the unspoken story – how Wilshire meets people at the most difficult point in their lives and alleviates some of the burden while helping people move forward. We illustrate this in the video with opening lines from interviewees giving a glimpse into the struggles they were facing before finding Wilshire. The video cuts to Wilshire staff speaking to the mission and services of the organization, then returns to the patients and clients to hear how, in both big and small ways, Wilshire walked alongside them in their journeys, met some of their critical needs, and guided them through.
We invite you to be inspired along with us, and watch the video here. (Amazing videography and editing work by Patrick Ang!)
For many of these interviewees, the struggle isn’t over and the grief is still very real. We are so grateful for their candidness in sharing their stories, and we’re grateful to Wilshire for being an organization with such a deep well of sincere caring for the people in their community.
We’re excited to see how these stories will touch more stories, and how more community members will find Wilshire in a time of need. You can learn more about the services Wilshire provides at wilshirehcs.org.
