It started with a conversation at the right moment. At a Rural Ideas Conference hosted by the Town Square Collaborative at the University of the Ozarks in nearby Clarksville, Chantel Poor, a Facilitator with Communities Unlimited (CU) from the Sustainability Team, met Johnny Everette, a lifelong Morrilton resident, city councilman, discipleship pastor at Union Baptist Church, and President of the CommUNITY Hearts in Action Leadership Team.

The Town Square Collaborative, a CU partner, works with rural congregations and their leaders to address community needs, rooted in the idea that local churches are often the most trusted, most connected institutions in a small town, and that lasting change tends to run through them.

“I just kept being drawn back to Communities Unlimited,” Everette said.

CU and Morrilton connected and are now collaborating. As the first step in the process, Poor guided local residents through a structured, community-driven effort designed to surface priorities from the ground up.