26 Point 2 – A Name that Goes the Distance

This weekend, my attention was drawn to an inspiring name in Long Beach, CA—a new apartment building named 26 Point 2, designed to house the recently homeless. The name isn’t just an address; it’s a powerful metaphor. As highlighted by The New York Times, the building’s name is an exhortation: “Solving homelessness is a marathon, not a sprint.”

The choice of 26 Point 2 beautifully encapsulates the ongoing, complex commitment required to address homelessness. It’s a reminder that real change demands sustained effort, much like completing a marathon.

This resonates with me deeply, as I’ve also leveraged numbers in naming projects to convey strong messages. Take, for instance, Verily’s OneFifteen (https://onefifteen.org/) drug recovery center—named after the 115 lives lost each day to opioid addiction at the time the clinic was founded. Their goal was to change that number to zero, underscoring the clinic’s mission with every mention of its name.

Numbers, when used thoughtfully, can be incredibly impactful in branding. I applaud those behind 26 Point 2 for their visionary approach, using a name to signal unwavering commitment to a critical cause.