Preparing for Heart & Soul

Preparing for PA Heart & Soul

Interested in becoming a PA Heart & Soul community?

Attend a FREE PA Humanities and Community Heart & Soul workshop or information session to learn how to bring PA Heart & Soul to your town!

Upcoming Information Session

June 12, 2025 | 1:00-2:00p.m.

Join PA Humanities on June 12 from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. to learn how you can apply to be a 2025–2027 PA Heart & Soul community!

This information session will introduce the Community Heart & Soul® model, an inclusive, resident-driven process that helps towns build stronger, healthier, and more economically vibrant futures by actively engaging the voices of everyone who lives there. Participants also will learn about how they can apply to become a part of our growing PA Heart & Soul community. We’ll share information about:

- - - - The four-phase Community Heart & Soul® process
      - The 2025 PA Humanities application timeline for the upcoming PA Heart & Soul opportunity
      - Our special PA Heart & Soul Summer Workshop Series designed to help your community prepare for Heart & Soul and a strong application
      - Additional resources, funding and support available to communities

Who should attend?
Keep in mind that PA Heart & Soul is open to communities with populations 30,000 or under and the local municipality must be involved. We encourage teams of diverse community representatives to attend, especially those involved in:

- - - - Municipal government
      - Local non-profits
      - Schools and youth organizations
      - Community and civic groups
      - Neighborhood associations or groups
      - Arts, humanities and cultural groups that conduct community outreach and engagement
      - Anyone interested in resident-led community planning

Reserve your spot today: https://forms.gle/K9L6QQeoskHHazHs7

Visit our website to learn more about PA Heart & Soul and read the Free Community Heart & Soul Intro Bookbefore the session.

Reserve your spot today!

Previously Hosted Workshop Series

Community Heart & Soul is a resident-driven process that engages the entire population of a town in identifying what they love most about their community, what future they want for it, and how to achieve it. Developed and field-tested over a decade in partnership with over 100 small cities and towns across America, Community Heart & Soul is a proven process for engaging a community in shaping its future. PA Humanities is the only statewide partner supporting Heart & Soul in the Commonwealth.

Participating in this series will prepare communities to bring Community Heart & Soul to their town (application process coming in July 2023). Communities that apply will have exclusive access to support, coaching and funding from PA Humanities and other partners.

In addition to being ready to submit an application, participants will learn how to:

- Assess a community’s civic health
- Engage and onboard residents and partners
- Build a community team that reflects the demographics of the region
- Plan resources to support the 2-year process

It is recommended that 1-3 individuals from each community participate in the series. Individuals can be residents, municipal leaders, non-profit partners, local business owners, arts and culture professionals – anyone who might be a part of the Heart & Soul team in your area.

Questions? Contact Jen Danifo at jdanifo@pahumanities.org.

May 24, 2023 | 12:00 – 1:30 p.m.

Assessing Your Community’s Civic Health
This workshop will explore the Community Readiness Inventory, a tool towns can use to better understand the civic health of their community past and present. By using this tool, communities can begin to set intentions and goals for using Heart & Soul as a way to engage and plan for their town’s future – the first step in preparing an application!

June 14, 2023 | 12:00 – 1:30 p.m.

Exploring Your Community’s Networks
Building a Heart & Soul team and volunteer corps – and gaining interest in the process – means knowing who lives, works and plays in your community. Participants will learn how to seek out and understand their community’s network through a tool called the Community Network Analysis, which can be used as a way to build an inclusion team and process.

July 12, 2023 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.

Leveraging Your Community’s Assets
How much does Heart & Soul cost? What should we use funding on? These are the top two questions we usually get from interested towns. Participants will use the Heart & Soul Resource Worksheet to learn what is needed to get Heart & Soul off the ground. Communities will walk away knowing how to leverage and apply their own community assets – and access exclusive outside resources – to support the process.

The PA Heart & Soul Workshop Series and Community Heart & Soul funding is made possible by the following program partners: