Terrell County Community Heart & Soul begins Phase Two: Connect

DAWSON – When Terrell County residents envision an ideal future for their communities, they see a bustling downtown in Dawson, a thriving artistic community in Parrott and the celebration and preservation of the county’s history.

Five residents came together to brainstorm these ideas at the Terrell County Chamber of Commerce on June 26. They prepared to enter Phase Two of the Community Heart & Soul Program, a nationwide nonprofit that builds stronger and more economically vibrant small communities through resident-driven collaboration.

“What makes this program different is they don’t just say ‘Let’s get civic engagement and feedback.’ They say, ‘Let’s get feedback and engage the community,’” Jenny Robbins, Georgia EMC’s community development manager and GA Community Heart & Soul coach, said. “No voice is left out.” 

Terrell County became a Community Heart & Soul town in the fall of 2023. It’s one of four communities in Georgia chosen to implement the program after qualifying through an application process that determines program readiness. Sumter EMC matched a $10,000 Community Heart & Soul Seed Grant to allow the Terrell community to get involved. 

Dawson’s Downtown Development Authority is leading the program, along with other community leaders and members who volunteer to participate. The group already completed “Phase One: Imagine,” establishing its core team and developing an identifiable brand and logo. 

“The stamp logo was the winning design,” Robbins said. “What was so sweet about it is the colors inside the heart originally on the design were red and pink, but they changed it to represent both school systems – the colors – because the goal is that we unify the community.” 

In Phase Two, volunteers will collect community stories by conducting interviews with a diverse array of people who live and/or work in Terrell County.

“When we know each other’s story, it breaks down stereotypes, and it helps us to understand that at the end of the day, we all have a lot in common in terms of our hopes and desires for our community’s future,” Robbins said. 

At the next meeting, the Community Heart & Soul group will review interviews, identifying and categorizing the data to sort through what matters to the community and what ideas people have for it. The group will then draft Heart & Soul “statements” – or the start of action ideas. 

“Those ideas start getting executed by individuals, by organizations, by the government, by the private entities,” Robbins said. “Sometimes even those ideas go into the comprehensive plan.”

Just as important, Robbins said, the interview process allows people to form connections with their fellow community members. 

“Silos are broken down, and relationships and collaborations form that would never have had an opportunity to flourish without this process,” she said. 

Robbins took Linda Jackson, the Dawson postmaster, through the interview process as a practice example. Jackson doesn’t live in Terrell County, but she said she’s participating in Community Heart & Soul because she’s grown to love the community by working at the post office. 

“Terrell County is one of the friendliest places I’ve worked in,” Jackson said. “The post office is a gathering place. Friends stop each other in the lobby area. They call each other by name and ask how the family is doing. If you stay in Terrell County long enough, it’ll grow on you.” 

Robbins asked Jackson what she’d like to see as an impact from Community Heart & Soul.

Jackson said she’d like to see more unity and events that draw people from all corners of Terrell’s four municipalities together. 

“I’d want to see where everybody could come and feel comfortable in their own skin,” she said. 

She talked about the Spring Fling Festival and a “murder mystery” dinner event she attended locally where she saw a diverse audience. 

“There has to be consistency,” Jackson said. “Put these on the calendar and people can know it’s going to happen this year because it happened last year.” 

Other volunteers talked about wanting to see more to do and more businesses downtown. Parrott residents said they wanted to see city leadership support the creation of a local art market that highlights the many artists that live within the Parrott community. 

Robbins, who has years of economic development experience in Georgia, said she sees a lot of potential in Terrell County.

“You see a willingness,” she said. “You have a wide array of people that live here … artists in Parrott … retired professors from colleges … there’s a diverse group of people. If we can get them all engaged, I think there’s nothing that this community could not achieve.” 

Michael Rogers, a member of the DDA’s board, said he believes the city leadership is in a good place to make development action happen as well. 

“Five women are now in control of leadership for this community, and things are going to start happening,” he said. “These girls are on the ball, and the city council is working with them cooperatively now. We’ve got a good start here.” 

Community Heart & Soul has success stories across the country, including the Georgia’s city of Thomaston. Thomaston is a small town of about 10,000 residents and faced economic devastation after the shuttering of two mills cost residents nearly 5,000 local jobs. People moved away, small businesses closed and real estate values dropped. The community lost its sense of identity.

Beginning in 2018, Thomaston used the Community Heart & Soul process to engage community members, including youth leadership gatherings, meetings with senior citizen groups and discussions with various community organizations. These efforts connected with more than 6,700 residents either in person or online. 

In 2020, the Thomaston-Upson Community Heart & Soul was recognized by the state of Georgia, which passed a resolution making March 2, 2020, Heart & Soul Day at the State Capitol. In 2021, the Thomaston-Upson Heart & Soul Inc. nonprofit was formed. 

The town has established walking and biking trails, outdoor festivals, farmers markets and even brought in a new hotel. Thomaston was featured on the HGTV show “Home Town Kickstart,” which assisted in revitalizing downtown storefronts and put Thomaston on the map.

Robbins said the program is transformative for rural communities. In Georgia, more than half the state’s population lives on a very small percentage of the state’s land. Rural communities see declining populations and a loss of industry. Robbins said in larger metro areas, citizens experience gridlock and community estrangement.

She said supporting community leaders and engaging all parts of the community would lead to stronger communities and a better distribution of population across Georgia. 

“I’ve spent my entire life in rural Georgia,” she said. “Rural Georgia has a lot to offer that’s not always obvious, but we also have a lot to overcome. The only way to overcome those things is through collaboration, connection and partnerships, when a community takes charge of its own future.” 

Want to be a part of the action? Terrell community members are welcome to fill out a survey at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSca6-VWenPwcFqaRkZ_fiTZoZwhpOeHEt9_onki8ii6ePPnmg/viewform.

The Community Heart & Soul email is [email protected].