Communities, partners gather to celebrate 10 years of Heart & Soul

By Karen Price

Lindsay Varner never envisioned herself as a community leader.

She studied British history and earned her master’s and PhD at Durham University in the United Kingdom, and always imagined she’d take a traditional academic route when it came to her career. Her research and interest in how communities coordinated and organized in the 17th century, however, led her to Community Heart & Soul in Carlisle. Varner was hired as the project coordinator 10 years ago in one of the first three Pennsylvania communities to take part in the Heart & Soul process through PA Humanities, and her experience has informed her work ever since. 

“(Heart & Soul) set the trajectory for where I wanted to go with my career,” said Varner, now the executive director of the Cumberland County Historical Society. “It showed me that I enjoyed working with communities. I enjoyed hearing people’s stories and finding meaningful ways to help to retell their story, if that’s what they wanted, and that people’s community stories can have real impact. I never really thought about this idea that talking with somebody could create such massive change within the town that I was living.”

For the past decade, PA Humanities’ partnership with Community Heart & Soul has shown how a simple but powerful process rooted in storytelling and resident-driven planning can change lives and transform communities. By creating space for people to share their stories, recognize their own expertise, and build shared values, Heart & Soul has helped towns across Pennsylvania foster deeper connections, spark new leadership, and shape more inclusive, vibrant futures. After first partnering with Vermont-based Community Heart & Soul to bring the process to three communities, a total of 16 communities have now either completed or are in the process of doing Heart & Soul. Johnsonburg and Ridgeway was recently named the newest PA Heart & Soul community, with more to be added later this year. 

Varner was one of more than 60 people who traveled to Harrisburg this spring to celebrate 10 years of Community Heart & Soul in Pennsylvania. Representatives from nearly all of the 16 communities made the trip, joining PA Humanities and Community Heart & Soul staff as well as partners including the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), Route 6 Alliance and elected officials. 

After an evening welcome reception in which the Dillsburg Heart & Soul team received a plaque commemorating their completion of the process, the group gathered at the Rotunda at the State Capitol building in the morning for a special ceremony. State Representative Rob Matzie, of District 16, and State Representative R. Lee James, of District 64, both spoke, as did Carbondale Mayor Michelle Bannon and Meadville Mayor Jaime Kinder, both members of Heart & Soul teams in their communities. 

PA Humanities board member Safronia Perry, who was a member of the Heart & Soul team in Carlisle, read a proclamation from Governor Josh Shapiro declaring May 13, 2025 as Community Heart & Soul Day “in recognition of ten years of this unique partnership and the hard work of Pennsylvania municipalities.”

“What a powerful moment to have all the partners and communities in one space,” PA Humanities executive director Laurie Zierer said.  “Everyone was there to share their learning and the real-world impact PA Heart & Soul had on them personally and in their communities.”  

The ceremony was followed by a summit held at the Civic Club of Harrisburg. DCNR Secretary Cindy Dunn and DCED Deputy Secretary Community Affairs and Development Rick Vilello shared why they support PA Heart & Soul and spoke to its value in communities across the state. Current and former Heart & Soul team members and project coordinators joined us for two panels: “Sharing Stories about What We’ve Learned: A Conversation with PA Heart & Soul Communities,” and “Building Connections and Igniting Leadership through Heart & Soul.” Those were followed by breakout sessions to discuss takeaways and new ideas sparked by the panelists. 

The day was a celebration of storytelling’s power to build belonging and ignite change.

Kinder spoke to the way My Meadville project coordinator Autumn Vogel made her feel like her story as a poor, Black, single mom mattered, which was not always the case. The process of Heart & Soul made her understand that she was an expert at living in her town, and that people cared about her.

“Radical love is PA heart and soul,” said Kinder, who is currently not only the first Black mayor of Meadville but also the first female mayor of Meadville, a town that was founded in 1718 and another of the first three communities to do Heart & Soul in the state. “Listening is PA Heart & Soul. Giving people confidence and value and making them feel like they belong is PA Heart & Soul, and that is what changes communities. That is what changes people. That is what changes lives.”

George Needles is the Township Manager of Upper Chichester, where there are 13 distinct and diverse neighborhoods and bringing people together has historically been a challenge. It can still be a challenge, he said, but now that residents from across the community know they have a seat at the table and the community has a set of shared value statements built from residents’ stories, it’s easier to move forward together. 

“People have different priorities, different value systems,” he said. “But (we center) on the value statements that were created and say ‘Let’s bring everybody to the table and respect that we have different ideas about the ways in which we should go, but get those ideas together and come up with the collective and drive those vision statements into the community, for the future of the community.”

Ambridge completed Heart & Soul last year, but one of the first action items to come from the story gathering in phase two of the four-phase process was a public art project that included painting crosswalks with residents’ handprints, flags from all the nationalities represented in Ambridge, and what borough manager and team member Mario Leone calls “paper clip people” in different skin tones with the arms locked together. 

“And that initiative really just changed Ambridge,” he said. “It restored love and pride in the community. … People now say I’m from Ambridge Borough, and they’re proud.”

For Mark Sherman, president of Community Heart & Soul in Vermont, the stories people shared at the celebration were more than inspiring.

“They were proof that Community Heart & Soul changes lives and transforms communities,” he said. “Each story is a testament to what’s possible when residents are truly heard and included. Our 10-year partnership with PA Humanities is a powerful reminder that lasting impact starts with a shared vision, and I’m excited for what’s to come in the future.”

Do you want your town to be the next PA Heart & Soul community? PA Humanities is hosting a series of four workshops this summer beginning July 10 to help communities learn more about the process, decide if it’s right for them and prepare to apply. For more information contact Jen Danifo at jdanifo@pahumanities.org. 

PA Heart & Soul is made possible by generous funding from Community Heart & Soul, the PA Department of Community & Economic Development, the PA Department of Conversation and Natural Resources, Route 6 Alliance and the National Endowment for the Humanities.