Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
OGDEN — When Nancy Davis Broderick first toured Ogden's abandoned fire station a year ago, her mouth fell open.
"I couldn't shut it," she said. "I was like, 'This is absolutely perfect.' It had everything. I was floored. I was dumbfounded that we found something so perfect."
Fast forward to Friday — after striking a deal with Ogden city officials that felt too good to be true — Davis Broderick beamed as she snipped the ribbon to honor the abandoned fire station's transformation into a facility that would help struggling families transition out of homelessness.
The deal: City officials agreed to let Davis Broderick lease the building rent-free — but pay utilities — for a year to operate a day center for Family Promise of Ogden.
In 2014, Davis Broderick founded Family Promise of Ogden — a local affiliate of the national organization that strives to move people experiencing homelessness into employment and housing.
The former Fire Station No. 3, 340 S. Washington Blvd. (400 East), had everything Davis Broderick was seeking for more than two years: showers, a washer and dryer, an office, a kitchen, restrooms and storage rooms.
The day center is meant to act as a home-base to help families find employment, take classes, meet with caseworkers, do laundry — whatever they need to do to get back on their feet, Davis Broderick said.
At night, clients are bused to one of 12 local churches that rotationally volunteer their buildings for a safe place to sleep.
The churches cover about $300,000 in yearly costs for Family Promise of Ogden in meals, beds and volunteers. The remaining $150,000 is left to Davis Broderick to cover through grants and fundraising.
The day center will host up to five families at a time, Davis Broderick said, hoping that Family Promise will be able to help more than 50 families before the day center's one-year lease ends.
In the meantime, Davis Broderick said she'll continue looking for a permanent space. But for now, Ogden's fire station is a deal of a lifetime to save on rent, she said.
"It's pretty remarkable," she said after Friday's ribbon cutting ceremony, where more than 100 people gathered to celebrate or learn more about the facility — from city officials to representatives from local school districts, who may have families that need to be referred to the program in the future.
"I'm jumping up and down today," she said. "I'm so excited."
Last month, Ogden City Council held a meeting to take public input on the day center "and not one person came and complained," Davis Broderick said.
"I think it goes to show how many people are on board and thrilled to have this in our community," she said.
Ogden City Councilwoman Marcia White said she's proud of her community for welcoming a homeless facility to the neighborhood — particularly during a time when homelessness is such a controversial issue in Salt Lake County.
"It's very refreshing," she said. "In a time when homelessness is so contentious, we have a community, a council, an administration and a mayor step up and say, 'Hey, let's try something to help.'"
White applauded Davis Broderick and her supporters for finding ways to be "proactive, rather than reactive" to homelessness in Ogden.
An estimated 14,500 people experience homeless on an annual basis in Utah, according to 2015 data from the Utah Department of Workforce Services. Of that, about 10,100 are in Salt Lake County and 1,123 in Weber County. Email: kmckellar@deseretnews.com Twitter: KatieMcKellar1
