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Resource Name: Orton Family Foundation
Resource URL: www.orton.org
Resource Description: Every town has authenticity, character, spirit?its own heart and soul. One-size-fits-all development means that many towns are losing what makes them unique, those special qualities and distinctive characteristics that keep a place from becoming just any other town.
Land use planning has yet to engage a broad base of local citizens to define and shape the future of their communities. Attempts to involve people in community planning often fall short because the process doesn?t convey how citizens? day-to-day lives and livelihoods will be affected. Meanwhile, incremental change occurs, yet its cumulative effects are hard to imagine or predict. Growth and change creep up on a community, and the consequences are born by future generations.
The Orton Family Foundation works with people in small cities and towns to counter such consequences, first, by asking citizens what they value most about their communities and, second, by placing those shared values at the center of the planning process. We assist communities by developing and helping to explore new practices and tools for citizen engagement, by sharing resources and success stories online and helping to build a national network of community planning practitioners, and by convening groups and conferences to discuss ways of building vibrant, enduring communities.
The Orton Family Foundation was established as a not-for-profit, private operating foundation with a mission to assist small towns and cities in the U.S. Founded by Lyman Orton and Noel Fritzinger in 1995, the Foundation is supported by profits generated by The Vermont Country Store, the Orton family business.