myHometown Salt Lake City is focused on providing service in three areas of the city: Northwest, Westside, and Central Community. Photo courtesy of myHometown Salt Lake City.
Continuing their goal of cleaning up the community, myHometown 2025 Salt Lake City is assessing additional community projects and services throughout the city. Right now, they’re focusing on three areas: Northwest (Rose Park, Fairpark, Westpointe and Jordan Meadows neighborhoods), Westside (Poplar Grove and Glendale neighborhoods), and Central (Ballpark and Liberty Wells neighborhoods).
The next myHometown Days of Service in those three areas will be in May. The organization will continue to host projects on various days through October and November. More information on each project can be found at myhometownslc.org.
myHometown was established by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) several years ago to bring resources and volunteers into area neighborhoods with the purpose of making improvements, as well as providing space and services to help residents improve their labor skills and access additional services. The program began in West Valley City and now operates in 16 communities across the Wasatch Front, including the three Salt Lake City communities, said myHometown Westside Co-Executive Director Paul Durham.
“myHometown was started to help people, improve homes, and create neighborhoods where people would have a greater desire to put down their roots (and make an investment and invest) in these communities,” said Durham. “[myHometown] is a non-proselytizing organization that is focused purely on service. We serve everyone regardless of religion or background.”
The community assessments and cleanups and/or improvement projects are undertaken by 40-60 “service missionaries” for the LDS Church. They work in their assigned communities anywhere from 8 to 24 hours every week, and are joined by local agency volunteers and neighbors, said myHometown Salt Lake City Co-Chair Carlton Christensen.
In addition to the community Days of Service at local parks or other common areas, the organization helps individuals on a “one-on-one basis.” And community members are encouraged to nominate anyone in the named neighborhoods who need assistance with home repairs, yard clean-up, tutoring and putting food on the table.
“The goals of myHometown are to help maintain and improve homes and neighborhoods and elevate the lives and skills of individuals and help them become more self-reliant,” Durham explained. “We strive to bring neighbors together in service to one another. We also seek to partner with the city and other organizations to maximize the effectiveness of our collective services.” Durham, who leads the Westside program with his wife, Maren.
myHometown works with churches, schools, corporate sponsors, nonprofits, and community members to improve living conditions, provide access to existing programs and services, and identify community and individual needs to sustain and improve neighborhoods, said Christensen, who resides in Rose Park with his wife and co-chair, Cathy.
“It’s amazing how small acts of service add up!” said Durham, who leads the Westside program with his wife, Maren. Durham noted that last year, the three Salt Lake City myHometown service areas had a total of 6,985 volunteers, serving a population of more than 20,000 people with a total of 107,000 hours of service.
“We keep track of the statistics to evaluate how and what we’re doing. We are just one of many great community service providers, but together we make a difference,” Durham explained.
“Our goal is to strengthen the community and assist where we can - but not replace or duplicate efforts that already exist. If we can create a partnership, we start there first,” said Christensen. He also noted that – in addition to the volunteer services provided – each group meets regularly to plan, assess, and document.
Durham and his wife provided service in the Rose Park area before being asked to organize the Westside team in 2022. In this role, they supervise 40 part-time church service missionaries, and also coordinate the efforts of over 1,500 volunteers per year. “It feels good to be able to give back to the community in meaningful ways,” he said.
“There is great, great happiness that comes in getting outside of yourself and serving other people,” said Kevin W. Pearson, Utah Area President for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who also oversees the myHometown initiative. “Life is a lot better. The world’s a lot better. Our communities, our neighborhoods are a lot better when there’s a community where people are proud to live there. They trust one another, they help one another. And that’s what we’re hoping for. That’s why we’re doing this.”
"We love our [Westside] neighborhood and serving it through myHometown,” said myHometown Salt Lake City founder and former Co-Chair Jeffery Olson, who served in this role with his wife, Julie. They are residents of Fairpark; Jeffrey is also a board member of the Fairpark Community Council. myHometown “has given us the great experience of working together with people from many different backgrounds, especially serving people whose lives are very challenged. Serving together breaks down the barriers that increasingly divide us. We invite everyone to let us know who needs help and join us in serving. They won't regret it.”
All the church volunteers have asked to serve in their assigned communities and do so without pay, said Christensen, noting that while some funding is provided by the church, “we try to assist homeowners to apply for other grant funds.” He said that all of the funds go to the individual homeowner. “We provide volunteers to work in our community resource centers and in planned Days of Service,” he added, “and it is the people in the respective neighborhoods who give us suggestions on where help is needed.”
Going into the future, Christensen said, myHometown will continue to provide volunteers to help in service to named communities, provide classes and resources, work to purchase or lease needed equipment such as dumpsters and stump grinders, and will eventually expand into other Salt Lake City neighborhoods.