"Across rural America, democracy is upheld from the community level up—and when organizers lack infrastructure and support, the effects are wide-ranging. In towns where Main Streets have gone dark, grocery stores have closed, and residents are moving away, communities need spaces and structures that allow people to come together, work through differences, and solve shared problems.
The Trust for Civic Life, a Ford grantee, invests in local efforts that help people connect and create their community’s future together, strengthening civic life and democracy for all residents. The organization’s grantmaking model is built around the core belief: that national problems are solved in local communities. Central to that is a structure the Trust calls “Civic Hubs”: locally based, locally led organizations that create the culture and conditions for people to discuss the decisions that affect them most and act together toward meaningful change. Here, Charlie Brown, executive director of the Trust for Civic Life, discusses their approach and the lessons they’ve learned from communities across the Heartland."
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