GrowOgden.org: A Person-to-Person Approach to Relaunching Lives
What if funding a nonprofit could become something more personal—an opportunity to know the person you are helping, encourage their progress, and celebrate their success?
1. From Funding a Program to Relaunching a Life
When a close relative asked me why I ask for money every year, I realized there was a gap in Eden Streets’ fundraising message.
We were explaining what we do, but perhaps not making clear enough what a donor makes possible: the opportunity for a person to relaunch their life.
What if sponsors could meet the people they support, hear their hopes and challenges, follow their progress, and celebrate their accomplishments? What if giving became the beginning of a relationship rather than simply a financial transaction?
That question helped inspire GrowOgden.org, a website designed to bring farm interns and their sponsors closer together. Through personal stories, progress updates, and invitations to participate, we hope to make the impact of each contribution more tangible.
2. What a Life Relaunch Can Look Like
Consider Dezi, a Grow Ogden graduate.
Dezi first encountered Grow Ogden through her recovery program at Eos Serenity Lodge. She and her cohort volunteered at the farm for two hours each week. She recognized that full-time employment would be an important step toward stability.
Consistency and energy were among Dezi’s strengths. She led by example, arrived on time, and wasn't afraid of hard work—even in the heat of Utah summers.
During her time with Grow Ogden, she began to recognize her own potential. At an Eden Streets gathering, she shared what the experience had meant to her:
“I just kept messing up. I took a chance and applied to Grow Ogden. I’ve been learning skills, and I just have more confidence and faith in myself. I don’t get judged here. The sky is the limit. I feel like a little kid again.”
Dezi had expressed an interest in becoming a forklift driver. After graduating from Grow Ogden, she secured full-time employment with a local publisher in its warehouse.
Her story illustrates why we believe in combining paid work, practical skill development, encouragement, and meaningful relationships. Dezi brought the determination; Grow Ogden provided an opportunity to put it to work.
A life relaunch begins when someone sees possibilities for their future—and has the opportunity and support to pursue them.
3. The Power of Connection
Eden Streets’ Declaration of Common Ground describes the principles underlying our approach. Every person has immense value. Purposeful employment can strengthen self-worth and well-being. Resilient communities help people facing challenges move toward self-sufficiency.
These principles lead us to a simple conviction: people need more than services. They need opportunities to contribute, relationships in which they are respected, and communities willing to invest in their potential.
The distance between a donor and a recipient can make giving feel abstract. Personal connection can change that. When sponsors know the person behind the need, they can offer encouragement, recognize progress, and better understand the barriers that person is working to overcome.
We want to bring those relationships closer to home.
LOCAL. SMALL. PERSONAL. CONNECTED. ACCOUNTABLE.
These five words summarize the approach we are cultivating at Grow Ogden.
4. Why Local Matters
Most of us want our communities to be safer, healthier, and more hopeful. Yet when we encounter someone experiencing homelessness or struggling to regain stability, we may not know how to help in a way that truly empowers them.
Grow Ogden offers a practical pathway.
Through Eden Streets, community-based farming combines paid transitional employment with hands-on learning, teamwork, and support in overcoming barriers to stable employment.
Local sponsors can invest in people in their own community. Volunteers can contribute their time and learn regenerative growing practices. Local businesses can support the program and potentially become employment partners.
The farm becomes more than a place to grow food. It becomes a place where neighbors work together, build relationships, and help strengthen the community.
5. Meet Grow Ogden at GrowOgden.org
We designed GrowOgden.org with several groups in mind:
Farm interns and applicants can share their aspirations, pursue employment, and tell their stories on their own terms.
Sponsors can meet prospective interns, learn about their goals, and follow their progress.
Farm staff can explain the program, introduce the people who support interns, and communicate what the work involves.
Businesses and grant makers can learn about the program's approach and community impact.
Volunteers and local residents can discover opportunities to help, attend events, and become part of the Grow Ogden community.
The website makes these connections possible even when people cannot meet face to face. You can also find at this new website key metrics reporting the impact of our program:
Number of Graduates
Hours of Paid Work
Pounds of Food Donated
Number of Volunteers and Volunteer Hours
Neighbors who have given
Farm and Program information
Every Story Belongs to Its Owner
Sharing a personal story requires trust. Some interns are comfortable discussing their challenges; others prefer to keep their experiences private.
We respect that choice.
Before publishing an intern's story, we obtain permission, prepare a draft with their input, and invite them to approve it. Interns may choose not to share their stories publicly and can still receive program support.
Our purpose is not to define people by their struggles. It is to help them share their aspirations, strengths, progress, and hopes for the future.
6. How the Relaunch Process Works
Grow Ogden is designed to turn community support into a practical pathway toward greater stability.
Apply. Prospective interns begin by demonstrating their interest and commitment. They share their goals and, if they wish, provide a personal introduction for potential sponsors.
Sponsor. Community members review intern stories and can choose someone whose goals they would like to support. Sponsors may also choose to receive progress updates, attend Farmily dinners, and celebrate graduations.
Work and Grow. Interns gain paid farm experience, learn practical skills, and work alongside the farm crew. They also meet regularly with an intern advocate to identify and address barriers to employment during the 16-week program.
Share Progress. With appropriate permission, sponsors who opt in receive updates about the intern's learning, goals, and milestones. These updates create opportunities for encouragement and help sponsors see the person behind their contribution.
Graduate. Interns work toward stable employment that fits their interests and abilities. They receive support with job searches, résumés, and cover letters. Graduation recognizes progress through the program, including when additional job-search support is still needed.
Celebrate. Sponsors can join Farmily dinners, graduation ceremonies, and other community events. These gatherings create opportunities to recognize achievement and build relationships that may continue long after the internship.
7. We Are 'Farmily'
At Grow Ogden, we use the word Farmily to describe the close-knit community that develops among interns and the people who work alongside them.
We limit each cohort to eight interns so participants have time to know one another, learn as a team, and encourage each other's progress.
The farm provides a shared purpose. Together, the crew grows food, solves problems, learns new skills, and experiences the satisfaction of meaningful work.
Sponsor Circles extend that sense of community beyond the farm. In a backyard or living room, a Grow Ogden graduate can share their experience while prospective interns explain what they hope to accomplish. Potential sponsors can listen, ask questions, and discover how they might help.
Sometimes, meeting a person changes everything. A need that once seemed distant becomes personal. A person who might otherwise have remained a stranger becomes a neighbor whose future matters to you.
8. A Model Ogden Can Share
Grow Ogden is becoming more than the name of a farm on 28th Street. It is a community identity around which Ogden residents can rally to grow food, create opportunities, and help people move toward greater stability.
Eden Streets is learning from established social-enterprise farming models, including the Homeless Garden Project, as we work to strengthen our approach and improve employment outcomes.
Our longer-term vision is to help other communities adapt this model. GrowPortland.org, GrowDenver.org, or GrowLA.org could connect local sponsors with people working to rebuild their lives in their own communities.
Over time, Eden Streets hopes to bring farmers, program staff, community leaders, and partner organizations together to share lessons, improve outcomes, and make life-relaunching opportunities more accessible.
Ogden can do this. Other cities can, too.
9. Make Grow Ogden Your Farm
For those who live in the Ogden area, Grow Ogden is your opportunity to help build a stronger community.
Visit GrowOgden.org. Meet the interns. Read their stories. Consider sponsoring an internship, volunteering at the farm, attending an event, or introducing us to a business that could become an employment partner.
Come meet the people whose futures you can help shape. Offer a word of encouragement. Celebrate their progress.
When we invest in people and build relationships that help them succeed, we strengthen the whole community.
At Eden Streets, we believe that farming can do more than grow healthy food. It can help people rediscover their potential, reconnect with their neighbors, and cultivate a future filled with purpose and hope.
Together, we grow food, jobs, connections, and hope.
Author: "Farmer Karl" Ebeling, Executive Director of Eden Streets, Project Lead at Grow Ogden - November 2026
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