Physical improvements are being made around Ogden every single day. But there are equally as many internal improvements happening to help the community grow from the inside. One of those is the Ogden CAN (Ogden Civic Action Network) project.

The project combines resources and talents of seven well-known Ogden Institutions to help strengthen inner-city Ogden. The affected areas are from 20th to 30th Street between Washington and Harrison Boulevards. Bill Cook, the Executive Director of the Ogden Civic Action Network, said it is Ogden’s most economically disadvantaged area. About 15,000 residents live in the space and of that about 30 percent live in poverty.

Weber State University (WSU) is the physical agent of the project and so while Cook is the executive director of Ogden CAN he is also the community development director with WSU. Cook has been impressed by the local groups that have stepped up to improve the quality of life for Ogden residents.

The anchor institutions include Weber State University, Ogden City, Intermountain Healthcare’s McKay-Dee Hospital, Ogden Regional Medical Center, Ogden-Weber Technical College, Ogden School District and the Weber-Morgan Health Department.

While Cook maintained that the idea of helping a whole community with a “hand up” seems daunting, getting many community partners involved seems to be the best way, maybe the only way to do so. The Ogden project will be used as an example for other communities across the nation, he said.

The project started in 2016 when WSU’s Campus Compact asked community members to create a Civic Action Plan. There have been over 170 different organizations addressing the needs of residents of central Ogden. This plan will combine those under one place.  The project won’t disappear anytime soon, either. It is a 40-year plan. The plan is three-pronged and includes plans to enhance education, health and housing improvements.

Included within those three tiers is to address the opioid problem in the neighborhood with opioid death ranks at four times higher in the area than in the rest of the county. The project also wants to make sure it honors all cultures in the process, Cook said. The population of central Ogden is about 45 percent Latino and it represents 15 different countries.

With so many people, groups and businesses being involved, problems can arise. “It takes a long time and it’s very difficult to hear everyone’s voice,” Cook said. But that is the goal. The seven anchor institutions have long-standing tradition of being involved in the community and each group knows what the community needs.

A 13-member board of directors was appointed earlier this summer and they will be key decision-makers in the process of putting plans into action and really getting hands on with help in the community. Chuck Leonhardt, President & CEO of the Ogden-Weber Chamber of Commerce, sits on the board of directors.

“Overall the program strikes at the core of what the community needs for the revitalization,” Leonhardt said. Because the program calls for better housing, education and improving the overall quality of life for the community, it is also a perfect fit for the business community to be involved, Leonhardt noted. He loves the way the business community is connecting with the needs of those living in inner city Ogden. “The area is growing and these things are connected together,” he said of business and community. “This is really an improvement project for the whole community,” Leonhardt said of Ogden CAN.

Leonhardt is excited to dive into the idea of providing more affordable housing but also helping business to grow. “Striking that balance is something the project will address,” Leonhardt said.

“The vision of Ogden CAN is to improve the health, strength and engagement of our community — economically, socially, environmentally, educationally and civically,” Cook said.

Each of the seven agents will contribute $20,000 per year and WSU will contribute $50,000 each year. All operations expenses will be taken care so that 100 percent of all grants and donations will go directly to the interventions for the community.