Everheld (Formerly Connect With a Wish): A Nonprofit Rebrand Built for Lasting Support

For children, youth and families connected to foster care, support can look very different on any given day. A backpack, a bed, a birthday celebration or a dress for prom can make a meaningful impact, but so can housing support, advocacy, caregiver resources, life skills, education pathways and a community that keeps showing up.

That is the work Everheld, formerly Connect With a Wish, has been building in Hampton Roads since 2014. As the organization grew from meeting immediate wishes to providing more than 20 programs and initiatives, its story needed more room. Through the PIP Project, a collaborative group of agency partners helped create a nonprofit rebrand that reflects the full depth of Everheld’s mission: lasting support for children, youth and families navigating foster care.

A Mission That Had Outgrown the Branding

Connect With a Wish began with a simple, powerful purpose: connecting the wishes and needs of youth and young adults in Hampton Roads foster care with the generosity of the community. Founded through lived family experience, the organization quickly became known for responding with compassion, creativity and urgency.

Today, Everheld supports youth, caregivers and families across a much broader journey. Its work includes immediate care, milestone celebrations, youth groups, caregiver support, advocacy, housing initiatives, employment readiness and programs that help young people build toward stable futures.

That growth created an important opportunity. The organization’s name and public presence needed to convey not only what it had always done well, but what it had become: a trusted, responsive and long-term support system for the foster care community.

The rebrand to Everheld gives that expanded mission a clearer, stronger identity. It honors the heart of Connect With a Wish while helping donors, volunteers, partners, foster parents, kinship caregivers, social workers and community leaders understand the full impact of the work.

A New Name Solves Brand Confusion

Everheld’s impact has always been visible to the people closest to the work. Families, foster parents, donors and volunteers know the organization for showing up to “deliver wishes” when the system is hard to navigate and needs are urgent.

Research conducted through the PIP Project confirmed that strength. Stakeholders described the organization as a trusted, action-oriented partner that gets things done. One recipient parent shared that when another organization took months to help with a needed bed, Connect With a Wish responded with urgency: “You need this, and we’re going to get it for you.”

At the same time, the original name created challenges for new audiences. Connect With a Wish was meaningful, but it could be confused with national wish-granting organizations and did not fully convey the organization’s broader work in housing, advocacy, caregiver resources, life skills and long-term support.

The nonprofit branding work helped make Everheld’s role easier to understand. Instead of limiting the story to “wishes,” the Everheld name reflects permanence, care and belonging. It signals that children and families deserve support that stays with them, not just help for a single day.

A Nonprofit Rebrand That Carries the Mission Forward

The name Everheld reflects a deeper promise: children, youth and families connected to foster care deserve to feel seen, supported and never alone.

Language shapes understanding. “Connect With a Wish” held meaning for the organization’s early work, but the nonprofit had grown into something broader. Everheld creates space for the full story: urgent needs and long-term support, joy and advocacy, practical help and lasting care.

The brand strategy developed through the PIP partnership centered on the movement from wishes to dreams. A wish can meet an immediate need. A supported dream can help a young person imagine and pursue a brighter future.

That idea now gives Everheld a clearer way to talk about its work across audiences and channels. It helps explain how placement day bags, birthday celebrations, housing support, caregiver resources, life skills programming and advocacy are not separate efforts. They are connected expressions of one mission: helping children and families move from instability toward support, dignity and possibility.

Red Orange Studio’s logo design and visual identity system gave that message a recognizable form. The new identity is warm, grounded and hopeful, with a purple and gold palette designed to feel distinct, trustworthy and optimistic. It gives Everheld a stronger visual foundation for donor communications, community events, digital outreach, advocacy efforts and future campaigns.

The Power of the PIP Project Partnership

Everheld’s rebrand was strengthened by the collaborative nature of the PIP Project. Each agency partner brought a different form of expertise, creating a more complete foundation for the organization’s next chapter.

Good Run Research & Recreation conducted stakeholder interviews that helped surface how supporters, recipients and prospective donors understand Everheld’s value. Feedback Agency studied foster care conversations, identifying opportunities for Everheld to differentiate its voice, elevate family stories and become a trusted community resource. Brand Federation developed the brand strategy and naming recommendation that led to Everheld. Parkwood Creative worked with Rian Hunter on a brand manifesto video to help bring the story to life emotionally. Red Orange Studio created the new logo design and website.

Together, the PIP agency partners contributed $198,400 in pro bono work to support Everheld’s mission:

• Red Orange Studio
• Good Run Research & Recreation
• Feedback Agency
• Brand Federation
• Parkwood Creative
• Rian Hunter

Additional PIP Partners who contributed to the project through consultation, strategy, and potential future deliverables include:

• Lewis Media Partners
• Workshop Digital
• CURE
• Mix & Shine

The value of that partnership is not simply in the number of deliverables created. It is in the way the work helps Everheld invite more people into the mission. A clearer brand can build trust with donors. A stronger story can help volunteers understand where they fit. A more accessible website can connect youth, caregivers and partners with resources. A shared message can help community members see that foster care support is not only a system issue, but a local opportunity to show up.

Everheld Rebrand Positions Nonprofit for More Impact

Everheld’s next chapter is not a departure from the organization’s roots. It is a fuller expression of them.

The same heart that began by meeting immediate wishes now supports a broader network of care for children, youth and families connected to foster care. The rebrand helps make that evolution visible. It gives the organization language and identity that can grow with its mission, strengthen community understanding and support the long-term work already underway.

For Everheld, the story has never been only about a new name. It is about helping more people understand the needs of the foster care community and the many ways they can be part of the response.

What began with wishes has grown into lasting support. With a clearer brand and a collaborative PIP Project partnership behind it, Everheld is better positioned to keep doing what it has always done best: show up for children and families with care, commitment and hope for the future.

To learn more about how collaborative creative partnerships can support meaningful nonprofit branding, visit The PIP Project.