Our hearts are with the people of Postville, IA and Spokane, WA as they begin to recover from devastating fires. Your gift can help provide immediate relief and support their long road to recovery.
Making Real Community Impact is a Big Task and Can Feel Overwhelming
We hear from town residents, municipal leaders, and community partners that they are often blocked by:
Apathy
Fragmentation
Lack of engagement
Inadequate planning
Poor investment choices
Minimal follow through
The Good News
The good news is that Community Heart & Soul can help you and your community overcome these challenges to build and maintain a thriving community.
Your town is not just a place. It’s home.
Every town deserves a future shaped by the people who live there. Watch how Community Heart & Soul helps towns take charge, unite their voices, and create lasting impact.
About Community Heart & Soul
Every community has a unique “Heart & Soul”—the pride residents feel, the places they love to show visitors, the gathering places where people connect, and the ways neighbors come together to work across differences. Community Heart & Soul® is a discovery process that helps small cities and towns identify the priorities, places, and traditions that matter most to the people who live, work, and play there—and turn those elements into actions to build a brighter future for current and future generations.
Led by residents in partnership with local officials, Community Heart & Soul strengthens community engagement, builds trust, sparks economic development, and honors history and culture. It becomes an ongoing practice for years to come—not a plan that sits on a shelf.
Founded by Lyman Orton, proprietor of the Vermont Country Store, Community Heart & Soul has helped over 140 towns across America build a future that reflects what residents love about their community and why they choose to live there.
Three Guiding Principles
At Community Heart & Soul, we take your community through an actionable plan that gives you a roadmap for success. Everything we do is rooted in three guiding principles.
Involve Everyone
Engage people where they already gather—block parties, schools, fairs, and other local events.
Focus on What Matters Most
Turn stories from residents into priorities for the future.
Play the Long Game
Build lasting change with an actionable framework to guide your community for years to come.
More than 140 small cities and towns across the U.S. have achieved lasting transformation with Community Heart & Soul.
What Communities Are Saying
Resident input helps ensure my time and energy are used most effectively—addressing what people love, as well as their concerns and future goals provides a basis for building a thriving, engaged community.”
— Charlene Phipps, Mayor, Spirit Lake, ID
Community Heart & Soul provides clarity and helps me prioritize what matters most to residents, making it easier to manage the many responsibilities of a Borough Manager efficiently and effectively.”
“Towns that have done Community Heart & Soul have shown increased capacity to do big things. They are more ready to undertake heavy lifts like endowment building, capital campaigns, or passing school bond referenda. The leaders have more skills around building consensus, listening, and planning for action. They know themselves better and can quickly get the community to take action. A surprising benefit of Community Heart & Soul is how we have seen the processes and principles of the program embed themselves within our organization. It has changed how we do our work, especially our community engagement and programs.”
— Nancy Van Milligen, President & CEO, Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque
As we mark America’s 250th anniversary, it’s natural to reflect on where we’ve been. At Community Heart & Soul, we’re also looking forward and asking: What future do America’s small…
The Leicester C.A.R.E. team. Photo credit: Catherine Ingraham White. Stepping up for your community is baked into Leicester’s history. In 1774, Leicester resident Colonel William Henshaw helped coin the term…
Last month, community builders and leaders from across Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin gathered in Dubuque for the 2026 Iowa Rural Summit hosted by the Iowa Rural Development Council. Over two…
