Curtis PalmerThe goal of the Salt Lake Inner City Project is to assist the poor and needy by teaching principles of temporal self-reliance. Service missionaries are called to serve under the direction of Inner City bishops and branch presidents.

For example, Janet Van Alfen, a service missionary for the Inner City mission in Salt Lake, says she and her husband recently helped one person earn his GED certificate—a beginning to opening new doors of opportunity. They helped another woman become certified as a home help care provider and later gain employment.

Typically, service missionaries are assigned to an Inner City ward or branch and given a few families or individuals to assist. Service is rendered in the form of teaching self-reliance through discussion and hands-on action. A few other areas throughout the United States have similar programs. The Inner City Project currently has over 600 service missionaries, with 300 to 400 more needed.

On LDSTech, you can help the Inner City Project by joining the community team that is working on their website. The website for the Inner City Project helps provide the following solutions:

  • Administration of missionaries. Leaders can see lists of assigned missionaries, their locations, and release dates.
  • Service Resources. Missionaries can access available resources, such as counseling, rehabilitation, education, employment, and other resources to serve the needy.
  • Monthly Reporting. Leaders can access tools that provide reports on how the missionaries are doing and how to assist them.

Larry Jones is the technology specialist for the Inner City Project. He is also the project manager for the LDSTech Inner City Project. He and a group of LDSTech community volunteers are moving the existing website to a new web server. On the new server, the Inner City Project website will connect with other Church systems, such as the membership system, the Church Directory of Leaders (CDOL), and other systems allowing authentication and real-time updates.

The new website will provide tools for the service missionaries that allow them to improve online reporting, collect more detailed data, and provide feedback on the use of the Storehouse of Specialists. Additionally, the new site will help compile data on the service missionaries themselves, such as where they are serving, how many hours per week they are serving, and how long they have been serving.

The LDSTech Inner City Project is in need of experienced programmers in database design, PHP, and MySQL. Experience with connecting Church systems like the membership directory and CDOL is also desired.

If you would like to join a project that supports the temporal needs of less-fortunate individuals, the LDSTech Inner City Project is a perfect opportunity. To get involved with the project:

  1. Sign in to LDSTech.
  2. Click Projects on the top menu, and then click the Projects submenu.
  3. Click the Inner City Project.
  4. Click Join.

If you have questions, contact Larry Jones at jonesld@ldschurch.org.

To learn more about the Inner City Project, see the Inner City Project wiki page.

Curtis Palmer is a member of the Clear Creek Ward, Carson City Nevada Stake.



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