Crystal Duffy, Community Developer for the Postville Community Heart and Soul program joins us on this episode to talk about one NE Iowa communities journey through the Heart and Soul framework.
Postville, a small town of 2,500+ in rural Allamakee County, has been slowly growing for well over a decade as local processing plant jobs and various industries have continued to work to fill out the work force. In recent decades, Postville has actually almost doubled in population as workers have arrived from Guatemala, Mexico, Russia, the Ukraine, Somalia, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and beyond. Entities like the Postville School District, Public library, and local churches have continued filling gaps to make newcomers feel welcome and find their places - enter the Community Heart and Soul Program.
Community Heart & Soul, a national nonprofit organization that, "builds stronger, healthier, and more economically vibrant small cities and towns across the United States through the Community Heart & Soul model - 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."
The idea for Postville to work through the Heart and Soul process originated through the cooperation of the Postville City Council, Allamakee County Economic Development, the Allamakee-Clayton Electric Cooperative, and the nonprofit Our Postville. For the past couple years, the group, led by a community developer, has implemented the four steps of the Community Heart and Soul Process: Imagine, Connect, Plan, and Act.
Developed and field-tested over a decade in partnership with over 120 small cities and towns across America, the national Community Heart & Soul program provides a framework for for supporting communities into the future - with community involvement at the heart of every step.
Join us for this conversation with Postville Community Heart & Soul program manager and community developer Crystal Duffy as we talk about her journey to NE Iowa, as well as Postville's journey through the Heart & Soul process and into the future. Follow Our Postville Community Heart & Soul on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OurPostvilleCHS.
"Rhymes With Decorah" is a companion project of Inspire(d) Media.
Original music heard in this podcast performed and recorded by Nick Zielinski of Decorah. Find him on Instagram @indicative_of_drumming
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