
Community Heart & Soul Stories
Rising from the Ashes: Revitalizing Mendota, One Step at a Time
You can tell a lot about a community not only from their successes, but how they deal with setbacks. The residents of Mendota, Illinois, were well on their way towards…
Going Far by Going Together
The power of partnership yields a greater investment in residents’ ‘Heart & Soul’ Brian Treece has a mantra that guides his vision for and work at the Findlay-Hancock County Community…
Sanford, Maine holds a steady course in a river of change
‘We have the ingredients, but what kind of town are we?’ On a mid-summer Saturday morning, it is a relaxed ride to the center of Sanford, right to the grassy…
Women Step Up and Run for Office in Community Heart & Soul Municipalities
Initiated more than a decade ago, the Community Heart & Soul program relies heavily on the participation of an entire population of a municipality to define what matters most about…
Big Dreams Take Shape in Tiny Iowa Town
If you only consider Macedonia, Iowa, by the numbers, it might not sound that impressive. It has a population of 276 people. It’s roughly 20 miles or so from the…
Driving Regional Transformation Through Inclusion
This article first appeared on the Our Towns Civic Foundation website on April 6, 2023, which you can see here. The Arras Foundation in Lancaster, South Carolina, is using resident…
Great Falls Reimagines Its Identity Through Nature-Based Tourism
This article first appeared on the Our Towns Civic Foundation website on March 30, 2023, which you can see here. With community partnerships and resident input, the small South Carolina…
Lincolnville Imagines its Future: ‘Who Do We Want to Be?’
The Town of Lincolnville, on the western edge of Penobscot Bay and almost midway along Maine’s coastline between Boston and the Canadian border, has a strong sense of self. It…
How A Community Center Helps A Town Rise Again
This article first appeared on the Our Towns Civic Foundation website on February 24, 2023, which you can see here. Residents of Fort Lawn, South Carolina used a community development…
Meadville Leaders Turn A Community’s Plan Into Action
This article first appeared on the Our Towns Civic Foundation website on February 17, 2023, which you can see here. Community leaders in Meadville, Pennsylvania listened to, and included, residents…
