Learn about the Hub

The Community Change Hub connects five websites with trusted resources on nutrition, physical activity and health. Explore four practice areas—early health, school wellness, food access and active communities—and champion change where you live.

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 is a self-guided, virtual toolkit designed to help you support healthier environments in your community.

It brings together five connected MSU Extension websites that guide you through systems change efforts related to:

  • Nutrition
  • Physical activity
  • Community health

The Hub is designed for community champions who want to make a difference in places where people live, learn, work, and play. It is a collection of practical resources that apply a Six-Step Community Change Model to help you identify shared challenges, bring a team together, build on local strengths and reliable resources, take action, and sustain community change.

How does the Hub Work?

The Community Change Hub uses a five-site framework (collectively called "the Hub") to organize content and guide your experience. You can move between sites based on your needs, using the Hub as a flexible, self-paced system rather than a linear course. 

Start here:

  1. Community Change Hub: This site introduces the community change model and the roles of the community champion, explains key concepts, and helps you get oriented. You’ll find step-by-step guidance to help build a frame for your own community change efforts.

Then explore 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. These are called Community Voice Guides. In them, you’ll see how the six steps are applied to specific focus areas like food pantries and community gardens, supportive breastfeeding spaces, school and childcare environments, and physical activity settings. Explore the Guides, resource listings, and stories of change to inspire your own community work.

Use the downloadable resources to guide your steps

Throughout the Hub you will find links to our comprehensive 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 and launched by a small group of MSU Extension SNAP-Ed educators retained for one year to ensure the best possible close-out for partners in community health and nutrition. 

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 SNAP-Ed funding and MSU Extension’s delivery of community education and partner coaching ended, many partner organizations were left without support for nutrition and physical activity initiatives that had been part of their community health strategies. The Hub was developed to support the continuation of community-based health efforts beyond the life of SNAP-Ed 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

Do communities need to follow the Six-Step Community Change Model 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), 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 apply the Community Change 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.

Some initiatives may require small amounts of funding, which can sometimes be supported through local foundations, service clubs, or charitable businesses. A list of low‑ or no‑cost ideas is available in the Go NAPSACC Starter Guide (page 5 of 6).

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

How do I cite the MSU Extension 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/

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.

Is there required training, a fee, or certification to use the Hub?

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.

How was the Six-Step Community Change Model developed?

Developed from years of SNAP-Ed partnerships, the change model carriers 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 (https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/snap-ed-overall-impact-2001-2025), 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. 

Where can I seek 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: 

Can I use the Community Change Hub for topics beyond early childhood, school wellness, food access, or active communities?

Yes. 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.