Your town is not just a place. It's home. Your town's unique character along with the deep emotional connection felt by the people who live there is your town’s “Heart & Soul.”
The Orton Family Foundation seeks to empower people to shape the future of their communities by improving local decision-making, creating a shared sense of belonging, and ultimately strengthening the social, cultural, and economic vibrancy of each place.
Resident-driven positive change
Community Heart & Soul is a catalyst for positive change in small cities and towns. By actively seeking the collective wisdom of all residents, including those whose voices are often missing, Community Heart & Soul brings people together to build stronger, healthier, and more economically vibrant communities.
This resident-driven model takes into account both the unique character of a town and the deep emotional connection of the people who live there – a town’s “Heart & Soul.” These collective insights into what truly matters most serve to guide the town in making the best decisions about its future.
1.6 million square feet of former textile mill space downtown. Before Community Heart & Soul, 400K square feet were occupied. Six years after Heart & Soul, only 400K square feet were available.
Leaders in Biddeford, Maine, discovered support for razing an incinerator downtown, sparking an economic turnaround.
"Heart and Soul helped us instill confidence in investors and secure grants. How did this happen? It starts with the first guiding principle of the Heart & Soul process: Involve Everyone. One of the things I see the private sector looks for is a level of certainty when they invest in a community, and that level of certainty means something."
Daniel Stevenson, Economic Development Director, Biddeford, Maine
By design, Community Heart & Soul is resident-driven, actively seeking the collective wisdom of all residents, including missing voices.
Learn moreCommunity Heart & Soul boosts participation in local government, providing a roadmap for decision-making based on what matters most to everyone.
Learn moreCommunity Heart & Soul is a new way to do business based on what matters most to everyone.
Learn moreIdentifying a town's "heart and soul" leads to plans endorsed by residents, which instills confidence in investors.
Learn moreWhen funders support Heart & Soul communities, both the community and the organization benefit as change moves from transactional to transformational.
Learn moreFor nonprofits seeking to make a lasting difference, Community Heart & Soul offers a resident-driven approach to community development.
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The Field Guide is an overview of the four-phase Community Heart & Soul model and breaks the process into manageable steps and tasks. Download the free Field Guide today and start along the path to a stronger, healthier and more economically vibrant community based on what matters most to everyone.
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Volunteers are an essential element of Community Heart & Soul® and key to making sure any project is resident-driven. Here Autumn Vogel, Project Coordinator for My Meadville, a Community Heart ...
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Harriet Gumby turned a spotlight on a forgotten piece of African-American history in her Pennsylvania town when, as part of the Greater Carlisle Heart & Soul project, she told the ...
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This post first appeared on National Research Center Inc. Survey Research Revolution Part V Give Me Your Scared, Your Unempowered, Your Indifferent. What is the number one question local leaders ...
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The start of 2018 marked a milestone for three Community Heart & Soul® towns. City councils in Bellevue, Iowa, Bucksport, Maine, and Galesburg, Illinois, adopted Heart & Soul Statements. Heart ...
Why wait? Let us help you discover your town’s Heart & Soul and get you on the
path to building a community that is stronger, healthier and more economically vibrant!