Inside Our Towns: Jason Neises
Discussing opportunities, real and perceived challenges in small-town America, and the impact of Community Heart & Soul in Iowa.
Civic Life
164 posts
A Safe Place to Talk: Raising HIV Awareness through Barbershops
Barbershops are often hubs for conversation in Black and Latinx communities. DKBmed’s Fade Out HIV initiative strives to make use of these gathering spots to destigmatize HIV education and save lives.
Story Maps are at the Center of Community Collaboration in Kent, Ohio
New digital tools give communities innovative and engaging ways to tell their own stories. In Kent, Ohio, a community-wide collaboration among Kent State University, Main Street Kent, and the Kent Historical Society & Museum uses story maps to teach residents about the town's rich history.
Never Too Soon: Engaging America’s Youngest Citizens Early and Often
Americans know that retaining their young people requires getting them involved in the civic process early and often.
Why Story Maps Matter
People understand the world through stories. People absorb their stories in ever-expanding ways. Here is a preview of a powerful, emerging form of digital story-telling, which we’ll be using frequently in this space.
American Institutions That Still Work
Everyone knows about the parts of America that are so polarized and divided that they have lost touch with their basic functions. Here’s a look at some of the people, institutions, and collaborative cultures that provide examples, and lessons, for the rest of us.
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.
Galesburg residents revitalize ‘Appliance City’ by focusing on ‘quality of life’
The exodus of Galesburg, Illinois’ economic anchor in 2004 left the town in identity-crisis mode. Now, Galesburg residents are redefining the heart and soul of the town — which once centered around being a manufacturing hub — by bringing their unique history and heritage to the fore.
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.
Renewing the Call for a Marshall Plan for America
Seven decades ago, a plan to rebuild fragile, wounded countries swept across Western Europe. That idea should serve as a blueprint for American towns and cities and regions left behind today, argues Michael Cooper.
The Past, the Future, the Present: Updates from Coast to Coast
A Fellow named, college services goes big, and scenes from a Day of Enlightened Living—here are three updates on stories we've been following on this site over the years.
The Coming Reckoning
Are we witnessing the beginning of the end of our democracy, or are we living through growing pains? Are we on the brink of a civil war, or will unity prevail adapted and renewed?
A Southern City Shows How to Deal With the Past
This is how it looks when a community, its faith and civic organizations, and some of its leading citizens face difficult truths.
Ajo, Charleston, and Eastport take to the digital stage to talk rural resilience
What do Ajo, Arizona; Charleston, West Virginia; Eastport, Maine have in common? For starters, they were all featured in a recent panel discussion that Our Towns hosted at the Rural…
Congrats to the Winners!
Two small towns come out strong in a national poll. They're among our favorites, and we're glad for these results.
The Future of Power
Substituting Hope for Fear in Small Town America