Ogden project helping neighborhoods
E-mail story
It's easy. Send a link to the story you were just reading to a friend. Just fill out the form on this page and we'll send it along.
Your name and e-mail address are transmitted to the recipient. Otherwise, it is considered private information; see Privacy policy.
"It seems like we are always running," said the single mother of four, who has two daughters with special needs.
Then two summers ago, Latter-day Saint volunteers built a concrete ramp to her front door.
"Strangers came in and helped and put their arms around us," she said.
The project was one of hundreds completed in recent years by members of the Ogden Utah Stake, who are trying to change the inner city neighborhoods in their boundaries one home at a time.
Begun nearly a decade ago, the project came about as stake leaders realized "the assets in our stake were not located in the same areas as our needs," said former stake president L. Clifford Goff.
Their goal was simple: to "match the talents with the needs," he said.
They set up a stake committee to identify and assess needs. Then a miracle happened, he said. "We just had all kinds of people come forth."
They painted and roofed homes, fixed plumbing and landscaped yards. They built porches and repaired floors. Members from neighboring stakes took notice and started contributing labor to the projects. Church members who had received help came out to give assistance on the next project.
Of the Ogden Utah Stake's 10 units, five are located in inner city neighborhoods. Humanitarian efforts in the stake are focused on, but not limited to, the area between Harrison and Washington streets and the Ogden River and 24th Street.
Part of the problem in the area, said Stake President Shaun S. Myers, is the age of the people living in the neighborhoods and the transient nature of the housing there. Finally, he said, many homeowners who have needs lack the resources to make changes.
"When you combine people of professional skill and coordinate within our quorums and other wards, it is incredible what you can accomplish," said President Myers.
He said the biggest difference the project is making is in the wards and the people in the area.
One inner city ward, for example, had always struggled. After work was done in the neighborhood, attendance increased from 20 to 30 percent to more than 50 percent.
Another ward had only 14 active Melchizedek priesthood holders five years ago. Today there are about 180 people attending sacrament meeting each week, he said.
"We see this more vibrant activity in the Church," President Myers said. "We see a lot more unity and fondness and friendship. ....
"When people work together they build bonds of friendship that carry over into their Church service."
In essence, he said, "we are just doing a little bit at a time, but touching a lot of lives."
Clyde Parker, former chairman of the stake committee over the project, recalls how far the effort has come.
"It has been a tremendous accomplishment. There has been a lot of good done. From the beginning, in my mind, it was really a double kind of effort. The people in the inner city have been helped in a material way to get things done that needed to be done. The volunteers have been helped in their own right through service and the feelings that come through service."
President Goff agreed. "Of course this should have happened," he said. "There are so many people who are involved and willing to help. It is very satisfying. It was our vision that it could be done. It is being done. It is a fulfillment.... We are just anxious to get more done."
Melissa Jensen's daughters haven't missed their school bus since the ramp at her home was installed two summers ago. Church volunteers came in and, in one weekend, changed their life, she said.
"It has been an absolute blessing," she said. "So many people were involved. It has been fun knowing that all these people cared about my little family."
