Learn how to get started with Community Heart & Soul, a powerful way to strengthen community.

Created by the Orton Family Foundation, Community Heart & Soul is a unique community development model that brings people together to build stronger, healthier, and more economically vibrant small cities and towns based on what matters most to everyone. It results in a clear path for the future while restoring pride, attracting new leaders, honoring history and culture, and building trust.

Guided by three principles—Involve Everyone, Focus on What Matters Most, and Play the Long Game—Community Heart & Soul towns in 19 states from Maine to Washington are demonstrating resilience during crisis.  In Virginia, the Bowling Green Community Alliance is one year into leading the Bowling Green Heart & Soul project to build a brighter future and identify what is possible, inspiring hope and aspiration.

Ann Glave, Bowling Green Heart & Soul Coach and Executive Director of Fredericksburg VA Main Street, Inc., feels Virginia Main Street “ties in really nicely” with the Community Heart and Soul program. Glave describes the program as “reconnecting people with what they love most about their town and translating those personal and emotional connections into a blueprint for future community decisions.  It’s basically a resident-based model catalyst for change.”

Published in The Virginia Connection, June 16, 2019

Are you interested in learning more? Register now for the free Getting Started with Community Heart & Soul Virtual Workshop Series, starting September 29, 2020! The five-part series will prepare participants to get started with Community Heart & Soul, a proven model for community development based on what matters most.

Who Should Attend?  Residents, community leaders, and organizations with an interest in guiding community actions based on the simple premise—what matters most in their communities.