EMPORIUM –– The Pennsylvania Humanities Council has partnered with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and The Orton Family Foundation to support Cameron County along the path to becoming a stronger, healthier and more vibrant community through a humanities-based approach to community development.
“We’re really excited to officially be cultivating Community Heart and Soul in Cameron County,” exclaimed Jess Herzing, project coordinator for The Cameron County Project. “The resources, training and funding we’re receiving from our friends at the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, the Orton Family Foundation, and DCED will help our project accomplish our goals of encouraging resident engagement, meeting with our neighbors to hear their stories of what makes Cameron County such a special place to live and help us develop local volunteers with unmatched skills in facilitation and community pride building.”
Through this unique partnership between a government agency, a statewide non-profit organization, PHC, and a national foundation, will provide training and technical support worth an estimated $60,000 to the county. In addition, The Cameron County Project has received $5,000 in combined funding from PHC and DCED –– an investment valued at a sum of $65,000.
“The humanities are a valuable tool for community and economic development in Pennsylvania,” said Laurie Zierer, PHC’s executive director. “We see so much positive change as residents build relationships, honor their homegrown talents and assets, and reclaim and reshape their communities.”
Since 2015, PHC and The Orton Family Foundation have been working together to bring Community Heart & Soul, a community development model pioneered by Orton, to communities across Pennsylvania. This month Cameron County, along with Upper Chichester, will join the towns of Carlisle, Meadville and Williamsport in deploying Community Heart & Soul projects.
“This alignment of interests, the humanities, the community and the economy; makes perfect sense. We all share a common goal — building communities that are stronger culturally, socially and economically. We look forward to seeing positive change unfold as the residents of Cameron County embark on Community Heart & Soul,” said David Leckey, executive director of The Orton Family Foundation.
The Cameron County Project’s mission is to encourage resident engagement and community pride by focusing on themes in the community that unite residents and highlighting them through a campaign of storytelling and resident-driven visioning. Since launching the Grassroots Resident Engagement Project in October 2017, completing a county-wide visioning survey using the Community Heart & Soul method and producing a community action report highlighting what residents value about Cameron County and how residents would like to see their values honored, developed or capitalized on has been the Project’s primary goal.
Through the process of completing this goal, the Project hopes to encourage residents to re-engage with their communities, rebuild trust by ensuring residents feel heard and encourage new voices in Cameron County to create and implement change that highlights residents’ values. This is a special two-year project of the Cameron County Community Chest, which provides the project with resources, guidance and oversight. The Project is dedicated to serving Cameron County. For more information or to get involved with the project visit thecameroncountyproject.com
