Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque Awarded $100,000 Grant from the Orton Family Foundation

The Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque (CFGD) recently received a two-year, $100,000 grant from the Orton Family Foundation. The dollars will fund CFGD work to implement the Orton Community Heart & Soul™ method in the Foundation’s six-county rural affiliate region beginning with the pilot community of Monticello, Iowa.

For the last five years, Orton has invested $10 million to test the Community Heart & Soul™ community engagement process in nine towns with the goal of developing a better way to help small communities shape their futures. The method, which is highly participatory, collaborative and strategic, reconnects people to each other and to what matters most about where they live. It then translates those connections into a blueprint for better decisions leading to sustained social and economic vitality.

The $100,000 grant will fund a partnership between Orton and CFGD to share the success of Community Heart & Soul™ by establishing a Heart & Soul Midwest Network comprised of communities, foundations and partners that support and implement the process in Iowa and surrounding Midwest communities.

“We are excited to partner with Orton to share this innovative community engagement work,” said Nancy Van Milligen, CFGD President/CEO. “Combining the Community Foundation’s philanthropic focus and community leadership experience with Orton’s Heart & Soul™ process will create real results for our rural affiliate communities.”

CFGD is uniquely suited to partner with Orton in this endeavor. Through its community leadership work, the foundation has been working for nearly a decade to create long-term solutions to community challenges through initiatives like Project HOPE, Every Child/Every Promise and Inclusive Dubuque. These programs take a collaborative approached to tackle complicated issues by bringing people together.

CFGD will match the Orton grant with its recent $150,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Community Development Initiative (RCDI) program. The RCDI grant is funding community engagement efforts to grow philanthropy for greater prosperity and sustainability in Allamakee, Jackson, Jones, Clayton and Delaware Counties in Iowa and Jo Daviess County in Illinois.

Community leaders in Monticello, the first pilot community for the Heart & Soul Midwest Network, embraced the process as an opportunity to engage their citizens in planning for the future.

“While the City of Monticello sets goals, plans for and proceeds with public improvements, and performs other comprehensive planning practices, we seldom take time to look at what underlies our planning, and that is community values,” said Doug Herman, city administrator for the City of Monticello. “Community Heart & Soul™ will allow us to take a hard look at what the citizens of Monticello value, why they are here and what will keep them here. The process will result in findings that will guide future decisions of the city council and will hopefully bring about greater citizen interest and involvement in city governance.”
 
“Monticello welcomes the opportunity to participate in a community-driven program in identifying objectives, strategies and the development of methods involving as many of our businesses and community members,” said Barbara Hoffman, Jones County Community Foundation coordinator.

The Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque is currently seeking a Community Heart & Soul™ coordinator to lead this effort in Monticello. Interested applicants may apply at www.accessdubuquejobs.com.

For more information about Community Heart & Soul, contact the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque at 563.588.2700.