Gary Wilson, Board Chair for The Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation in Findlay, Ohio and Community Heart & Soul Champion, on downtown revitalization in his community.

“For the first time, people were looking in, not looking out of the community.”

Gary retired from being an Agricultural Extension Agent in 2011. Along with his wife Mary, they own and manage a small farm of sheep, cattle, hay, pasture, corn, soybeans and wheat with their children being the 8th generation on this farm. He serves on the Board of The Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation and is President of American Forage and Grassland Council, President of Ohio Sheep and Wool Board and President of Hancock County Farm Bureau Board plus staying active on 15 other Boards and Committees.

About Community Heart & Soul
Founded by Lyman Orton, proprietor of The Vermont Country Store, Community Heart & Soul is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to establish and promote a community practice that engages all residents within a community in determining what matters most to the people who live there and uses their ideas and aspirations as the blueprint for a better future. The Community Heart & Soul model has been field-tested in over 90 communities across the U.S. Orton established Community Heart & Soul after serving on his town’s planning commission and growing frustrated that decisions being made that would shape the town’s future were without guidance from the majority of the residents.