On a cold and cloudy day last January, the City Council and I met with some of our city staff to brainstorm ways we could uplift, renew, and improve the city. We discussed this for hours, and many different ideas were shared, but the one thing we all kept returning to was the power of service to unify and transform the city.
We had heard great things about a program called myHometown and its success in other early adopting cities like Provo, Ogden, and West Valley. MyHometown is a community-led initiative that focuses on bettering communities one neighborhood at a time through education, connection, and, of course, service.
We had heard stories of myHometown volunteers revitalizing aging neighborhoods, renewing landscapes, and providing educational opportunities through Community Resource Centers. Their mission is to lift the lives of residents and attract individuals and families who want to move in, stay, and contribute to the long-term viability of the community.
Every one of your elected officials believed that partnering with myHometown was the right first step in achieving this aim, and I’m happy to report that just nine months after our initial discussion, Orem is now a myHometown city and our first community resource center will open this month in the Geneva Heights neighborhood.
Anyone in the city can now sign up for free classes taught every Tuesday and Thursday evening. The current offerings include English as a second language, Spanish as a second language, mental health tools, youth piano lessons, and homework tutoring. To help families with young children, the Community Resource Center also offers on-site childcare so parents can attend the classes.
In addition to the free classes, extensive neighborhood service projects will be organized to beautify and revitalize the area. Volunteers from all over the city will come to lend a hand and help people get back on their feet.
As your Mayor, I’ll be the first to tell you that the government doesn’t have all the answers to solve our community’s problems. It will take all of us working and serving together to make Orem what it truly can be.
Learn more, register for a class, or sign up to volunteer at orem.org/mht.
This is just the beginning of what we anticipate will be a revolutionary effort to renew Orem neighborhoods. We’re excited about the future and what the MyHometown initiative will do for our community!
I’ll see you next month!
