Community Heart & Soul Field Guide

The Community Heart & Soul™ Field Guide (2014) is the Orton Family Foundation’s guide to its tested and proven method of community planning and development. This step-by-step, four-phase method is designed to increase participation in local decision-making and empower residents of small towns and rural communities to shape the future of their communities in a way that upholds the unique character of each place.

Community Heart & Soul is based on wide and broad participation from as many residents as possible. Whether the focus is on comprehensive planning, economic development, downtown planning, or an outside-the-box vision and action plan, Community Heart & Soul aims to reach all residents of a town for the best results: results that pay benefits over the long haul.

The Community Heart & Soul Field Guide outlines a model Heart & Soul process. Each of the four phases is built around specific goals for learning, capacity building, and engagement. Together they lead to the overall project goals and outcomes.

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The Field Guide shows you how to:

• REACH all demographics in your community by bridging divides and overcoming hurdles
• MOVE the conversation out of city hall and into NEIGHBORHOODS
• ENGAGE and learn from all kinds of PEOPLE: youth to working parents to retirees
• UNCOVER practical, broadly supported SOLUTIONS to local problems
• Discover the POWER of storytelling to reveal what MATTERS MOST to residents
• Identify community VALUES and use them to inform ACTIONS
• Build strong CIVIC CULTURE to inform DECISIONS over the long haul

Find out what Heart & Soul can do for your town. 

​About The Orton Family Foundation
The Orton Family Foundation’s mission is 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.

Resource Link: Community Heart & Soul Field Guide

​This resource was submitted by Caitlyn Davison, Associate of Programs & Communications at the Orton Family Foundation via the Add-a-Resource form.