COMMUNITY HEART AND SOUL

PODCAST

Inside Our Towns: Scott and Tiffany Whaley

Feeding, sustaining, and building community in Kershaw, South Carolina through KARE.

COMMUNITIES THAT WORK

Kershaw invests in community with new ideas in old spaces

A train depot that’s a museum. A bank branch building that’s become a library. Another former bank that is serving as an early education center. Here is how this South Carolina town is repurposing buildings of the past to build up its future.

COMMUNITIES THAT WORK

How one small Ohio town practices democracy

Small is big in Mount Blanchard, Ohio. The town approached change in two ways, and Deborah Fallows reports on the impact she and her husband, James, saw during their travels there.

LIBRARIES

A Library Garden Celebrates Reading, Art, and Nature

In 2015, Dillsburg, Pennsylvania relocated the town's library to a bigger space to better serve its growing population. A year later, when tragedy struck, the community stepped up to grow the library to include a reading garden.

RURAL & REGIONAL

A Dining-room Meeting Begins a New Chapter in One Town’s Story

As Isaac and Heidi Tucker saw it, there was no use in waiting for their town to improve itself. Instead, they took action, and are rallying renewal efforts in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania today.

WATER

Past, Present, and Future on the Water: Using StoryMaps to Explore Bucksport, Maine

What does a mile-long stretch along the Penobscot River tell the walker about Bucksport, Maine? As it turns out, a lot.

FAITH INSTITUTIONS & ORGANIZATIONS

How Powerful Stories Are Rebuilding a Church

This is the story of Elias Van Buren Parker and how today’s telling of his story has the power to pull the town of Mt. Holly Springs, Pennsylvania from its early glory days, then decline, back to new days of glory.

CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT

Fountains of Youth for Towns

The life and spirit of any town or city depend on its ability to attract and retain people. In a time when many worry about brain drain, how communities keep their young people, or bring them back, or attract newcomers illustrates a place's sense of and attention to renewal.

INVENTION & RENEWAL

Revitalizing a community by focusing on 'quality of life'

Galesburg residents are redefining the heart and soul of the town by bringing their unique history and heritage to the fore.

COLLABORATIONS & PARTNERSHIPS

A New Partnership: Community Heart & Soul

Community Heart & Soul and Our Towns Civic Foundation are collaborating to bring national attention to the stories of innovation and renewal in small cities and towns across the United States.

CIVIC LIFE

How River Walks Make a Community

Bucksport's waterfront is a major natural asset for the Maine town. And along it runs Bucksport's Walkway. Here's a look at the river walk and why it matters.