Community Heart & Soul is a four phase, step-by-step process. Developed and field-tested for more than a decade in partnership with small cities and towns (population less than 50,000), Community Heart & Soul has evolved into a proven method for bringing the community together to chart a course forward. For most communities, completing the four phases takes about two years. But the completion of the Community Heart & Soul model is really just the beginning. It launches a new way of doing business that nurtures a more vibrant community far into the future.
Click each phase to view.
Phase 1: Imagine
Heart & Soul is designed to create an enduring positive effect in the towns that go through the model. It does this by focusing on three core principles:
• Involve Everyone – especially from those whose voices are often missing or overlooked.
• Focus on What Matters Most – common themes that become the foundation for sound decision-making emerge from residents’ shared stories.
• Play the Long Game – Heart & Soul equips communities with the skills and tools that change how towns view themselves, how they govern, and how they make decisions.
Discover what residents love about where they live and identify common hopes and aspirations—what matters most.
• Gather stories and input from the community. Telling and sharing personal stories about local experiences is a key engagement strategy because it brings people together to find common ground.
• Create Heart & Soul Statements that reflect the observations and aspirations of the entire community. These will guide activities and results in phases that follow.
Decide which ideas best reflect what matters most and create a plan that ensures action, both now and long term.
• Prioritize action ideas to determine what is important to the community.
• Develop an Action Plan guided by Heart & Soul Statements that captures prioritized ideas.
• Revisit Community Network Analysis to ensure as many people as possible are included in decision-making, aiming for broad and meaningful participation in developing and evaluating options.
Change the way the community takes action by putting resident engagement at the center of decision-making.
• Adoption of Heart & Soul Statements by city council; incorporation into comprehensive and other plans.
• Form a Stewardship Team to coordinate with community partners to make actions happen.
• Continue to apply the principles of Community Heart & Soul in future community endeavors.
• Celebrate!
"The fabric of a community is built by its volunteers. By placing volunteers front and center, Community Heart & Soul has helped to weave the fabric of our community."
