Creating Welcoming Communities

By GLADYS GODINEZ

Community Organizer and

JORDAN FEYERHERM

Project Associate

Center for Rural Affairs

Across rural America, demographics are changing, and community leaders are redefining what makes their small towns successful and vibrant.

Traditionally, a prosperous community is defined as economically viable, with enough housing and employment. Now, prosperous also includes having a welcoming and inclusive community.

To foster a spirit of welcoming, communities can start with civity. Civity is the idea of purposefully engaging in relationships of respect and empathy with others who are diff...