In 2008, the Orton Family Foundation began a $10 million, five-year initiative to develop a new approach to values-based community planning. This new way of building vibrant and enduring communities is designed to bring citizens back into the process of charting the future of their cities and towns. We call our approach “Heart & Soul Community Planning.”
We piloted Heart & Soul Community Planning in partnership with five communities in the Northeast and Rocky Mountain regions, testing new methods, tools and messages. Our early successes have inspired us to further refine this Heart & Soul approach and the tools and techniques for engagement and decision making.