Learn about the Hub

The Community Change Hub offers trusted resources on nutrition, physical activity and health. Explore four practice areas and use these tools to support a wide range of community change efforts.

This site is currently under development and is not yet launched. If this site is ready to be launched, please contact webadmin@anr.msu.edu.

What is the Community Change Hub?

The Community Change Hub (Hub) is a self-guided, virtual collection of resources designed to help you support stronger community environments.

At its core, the Hub is about community change, which is people working together to improve the places where they live, learn, work and play. While personal choices matter, they are often shaped by the conditions and opportunities available. Community change focuses on creating environments that make positive choices more possible, accessible and realistic for everyone.

The Hub is designed for community champions, trusted local people who turn ideas into action. It is a collection of practical resources that apply a Six-Step Community Change Model to help identify shared challenges, bring a team together, build on local strengths and reliable resources, take action and sustain community change.

The tools and approach shared in the Hub can be used for many types of community change efforts, from downtown revitalization to arts, culture, emergency preparedness and transportation. Because the Hub was developed by Nutrition and Physical Activity educators, the examples and resources you will see most often focus on:

  • Nutrition
  • Food access
  • Physical activity
  • Community health

These examples are meant to illustrate how the model works in practice and can be adapted to fit your community’s goals, priorities and context.

How does the Hub work?

The Community Change Hub introduces the Six-Step Community Change Model and the roles of the community champion, explains key concepts, and provides step-by-step guidance to help you build your own community change efforts.

Examples and resources on the Hub are organized around four areas of practice: 

  1. Champion Early Health: Find strategies that support healthy beginnings for families and communities, from pregnancy to early childhood.
  2. Champion School Wellness: Explore ways to develop student wellness through good nutrition, food access, and active learning.
  3. Champion Food Access: Learn how to support change work that helps connect people to food.
  4. Champion Active Communities: Discover ways to promote active living from childhood through adulthood.

Each “Champion” site includes examples of healthier environments shaped by the Six-Step Community Change Model. They also include Community Voice Guides, which apply the six steps to specific focus areas like food pantries and community gardens, supportive breastfeeding spaces, school and childcare environments, and physical activity settings.

Use the downloadable resources to guide your steps

Throughout the Hub you will find links to the Six-Step Community Change Model Toolkit, as well as step-by-step guides and worksheets that you can download and print. Use these resources to inform and support your team's initiatives:

Why was the Hub created?

The Community Change Hub was developed following the end of federal grant funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) on October 1, 2025. It was created by a small group of MSU Extension SNAP-Ed educators to support partners and communities as this funding ended.

For over 30 years, MSU Extension made a difference through SNAP-Ed by working with community partners to make the healthy choice the easier choice in everyday settings. When this support ended, many organizations were left without guidance for continuing nutrition and physical activity initiatives.

The Hub was developed to support continued community change efforts by:

  • Preserving and sharing effective tools and strategies.
  • Supporting continued momentum in community health work.
  • Providing resources that can be used independently.

The cessation of SNAP-Ed funding reflects an important reality: MSU Extension staff who created this resource will not be available to provide direct support after September 30, 2026.

A note about perspective

This resource is not a one-size-fits-all approach to community change. It reflects:

  • The experiences of educators at a large public university.
  • Partnerships developed through SNAP-Ed.
  • Public health frameworks commonly used in the United States.

These perspectives may not fully reflect all ways of knowing, leading, or creating change. You are therefore encouraged to:

  • Adapt tools to fit your community’s values and context.
  • Center local knowledge and lived experience.
  • Use what is helpful and leave what is not.

Funding for the development of the Community Change Hub was provided by the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service.

Frequently asked questions

Who is the Community Change Hub for?

The Community Change Hub is designed for community champions working to improve health and well-being in their communities. This includes individual community members, community-based organizations and Extension staff looking for practical, flexible guidance to support community change efforts.

Can the Hub be used beyond these focus areas?

Yes, the Hub resources can be applied to topics beyond early childhood, school wellness, food access and active communities. The six‑step model is a versatile, adaptable process that can be applied to any community-identified need. While the Hub was developed from years of work in nutrition and physical activity, the model itself is not limited to those areas. It can support planning, implementation and reflection for a wide range of community priorities.

Do communities need to follow the six steps in order?

The Six‑Step Community Change Model is intentionally flexible and fluid, designed to meet communities where they are. Communities may begin at any step that aligns with their current stage of work. For example, if a need has already been identified (Step 1) and stakeholders are assembled (Step 2), then starting at Step 3 is appropriate.

The model also supports revisiting steps when teams need to regroup or clarify direction. While it is recommended that communities eventually work through all six steps for the strongest outcomes, the path and the resulting change will be unique to each community. The model serves as a guide to keep groups focused, organized and positioned for success.

Is funding needed to use the model?

Not necessarily. Many systems change strategies require little to no financial investment. For example, transitioning a food pantry to a client‑choice model may only involve rearranging shelving and adjusting volunteer workflows. Policy changes are another example of no‑cost strategies. As another example, for early care and education programs, a list of low‑ or no‑cost ideas is available in the Go NAPSACC Starter Guide (page 5 of 6).

Some initiatives may require small amounts of funding, which can sometimes be supported through local foundations, service clubs, or charitable businesses.

Tip: Include a “wish list” in your community change action plan. Opportunities and partnerships can arise unexpectedly, and having a clear vision can help your community act when support becomes available.

How was the Six-Step Model developed?

Developed from years of SNAP-Ed partnerships, the change model carries forward the coaching, technical assistance and support MSU Extension partners received by Nutrition and Physical Activity educators and instructors prior to the loss of SNAP-Ed funding in 2025. It follows a six-step, practice-based, evidence-informed model that helps communities make realistic, lasting improvements in nutrition, food access, community health and physical activity. The approach translates established frameworks into practical steps that support collaborative, locally driven change.  

The Six-Step Community Change Model is grounded in both evidence-based frameworks and practice-based experience. Drawing from established approaches to community engagement and over 12 years of SNAP-Ed-funded community change efforts, the model was developed by MSU Extension nutrition and physical activity educators to support change strategies promoted through federal guidance. 

During SNAP-Ed implementation, ongoing process evaluation helped identify and refine practices that supported community engagement, collaboration, planning and long-term action.

Frameworks that informed the model include: 

CDC Program Evaluation Framework  

CDC Program Evaluation Framework, Kidder, D. P., Fierro, L. A., Luna, E., Salvaggio, H., McWhorter, A., Bowen, S., Murphy‑Hoefer, R., Thigpen, S., Alexander, D., Armstead, T. L., August, E., Bruce, D., Clarke, S. N., Davis, C., Downes, A., Gill, S., House, L. D., Kerzner, M., Kun, K., … CDC Evaluation Framework Work Group. (2024). CDC program evaluation framework, 2024. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: Recommendations and Reports, 73(6), 1–37. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/rr/rr7306a1.htm  

Collective Impact  

Kania, J., & Kramer, M. (2011). Collective Impact. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 9(1), 36–41.  

Mobilizing Action for Planning and Partnership (MAPP)  

MAPP – Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships National Association of County and City Health Officials. (2008). Mobilizing for action through planning and partnerships: A community approach to health improvement [Fact sheet]. NACCHO. https://www.naccho.org/uploads/downloadable-resources/Programs/Public-Health-Infrastructure/MAPP-factsheet-system-partners.pdf  

Plan – Do – Study – Act (PDSA)  

Institute for Healthcare Improvement. (n.d.). Science of improvement: Testing changes. https://www.ihi.org/resources/Pages/HowtoImprove/ScienceofImprovementTestingChanges.aspx  

PRECEDE - PROCEED 

Green, L. W., & Kreuter, M. W. (2005). Health program planning: An educational and ecological approach (4th ed.). McGraw‑Hill. 

Is training, certification or a fee required?

No. The Hub is a free, open access tool created to be practical and user-friendly. Short videos throughout the site offer guidance and examples, but there is no formal training, fee or credentialing process associated with its use.

Where can I find additional help?

Due to the elimination of the federal grant that supported development of this virtual toolkit, the original authors are not available to provide direct technical assistance or consultation. 

However, MSU Extension offers resources, training and support related to community engagement and facilitation. Use the following links for additional guidance and support: 

How do I cite the Community Change Hub?

Michigan State University Extension. Community Change Hub (developed by Leena Abouzahr, Monica Chrzaszcz, Heidi DeVooght, Sarah Eichberger, Lynn Foucrier, Ghaida Havern, Becky Henne, Staci Mackenzie, Jim Monahan, Amy Shovels, and Erin Tigue). https://www.canr.msu.edu/community-change-hub/