Other Side Village begins housing residents; public open house scheduled for January 27
Dozens of Salt Lake City residents attend the grand opening of the Other Side Village, a planned community for the chronically homeless, being built on the west side of Salt Lake City. A public open house is scheduled for Jan. 27. Photo by Sheena Wolfe.
The Other Side Village (TOSV) celebrated its grand opening at the end of December, and the first residents are now onsite at 1882 West Indiana Ave. in Salt Lake City. The 60 homes in this first phase are part of an eventual 430-cottage community that offers on-site supportive services and employment for those who have experienced chronic homelessness in the Salt Lake City area. For members of the local community interested in learning more about the operation and facilities, an open house is scheduled at the village Jan. 27, 2-4pm, where visitors can tour a cottage home and see what else is being built in this first phase of development.
Local community members are invited to tour the facilities and learn more about the village on January 27. Graphic courtesy of The Other Side Village.
In the Fall of 2022, Salt Lake City Council approved a zoning change and the lease of 8 acres of city-owned property to The Other Side Village to build this first phase of a larger proposed development. In addition to housing its first residents, December’s grand opening included a groundbreaking ceremony for an onsite medical and mental health clinic and the opening of the first Neighborhood Center for TOSV activities, said TOSV CEO Preston Cochrane, noting that future building in this first phase of construction will include an on-site social enterprise building for on-site employment and to generate revenue for village sustainability.
The grand opening event also celebrated the hard work of thousands of people, said Tim Stay, a TOSV Board Member. “Individuals, foundations, organizations, and businesses from across the State have contributed time, skills, funds, and support to get the site ready. Many have volunteered for long hours during the holidays to finish and furnish the homes because they believe in what the Village represents,” he continued. “But this project is more than just a housing project. This project is about a whole-person change for those who have been lost on our streets and communities. Our average resident that is moving in has been homeless for over 9 years, and most have battled mental health challenges. The transformation in their lives has been remarkable to see as they have prepared to move into the Village.”
“This village is the first of its kind in the state and exists because we’ve recognized housing alone will not end homelessness; belonging changes lives,” said Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, who has supported TOSV since its conception several years ago. “The Village will be a beacon of hope and healing from today onward.”
members The first phase of construction, approved in 2022 by the Salt Lake City Council, includes 60 cottage-style homes of 350 square feet in size. Additional development — including medical facilities and a community center — are planned. Graphic courtesy of The Other Side Village.
Joseph Grenny, Chair of The Other Side Village Board of Directors, echoed that sentiment in a village press release: “Today, we bring a new model for addressing chronic homelessness to the state,” he writes. “The Other Side Village takes a ‘Human First’ rather than ‘Housing First’ approach. Our average villager has experienced over nine years of homelessness. Here they gain not just permanent housing but help in transforming their lives by changing behaviors in a loving, accountable, and self-reliant community.”
To qualify for a home within TOSV, a resident must be chronically homeless in Utah. Their income must be below 30% of the Average Median Income for Salt Lake City – in 2022, that number was $39,222 per household according to the United States Census Bureau.
Villagers also pay subsidized rent, which Cochrane said helps the Village become self-reliant, and they must also work (as they are able) and live a sober lifestyle with assistance from TOSV facilities and programs like the Village Prep School, an intensive training program that all future residents complete before occupation.
According to TOSV Development Director Cathy Holt, the Village Prep School “is a therapeutic group home, patterned after the Other Side Academy, to overcome addiction and behavioral issues,” using professional resources and mutual support from other attendees.
“In our peer-to-peer mentoring program they (the future tiny-home residents) develop deep emotional bonds in which they support each other and hold each other accountable for their actions ─ very much the way close-knit families do. This intensive growth, healing, and training will take most people six months to a year to complete,” Holt said.
“The Other Side Village Prep School is an interim and much-needed experience between living
chronically homeless and moving into a village home. It is a vital part of the process. It's in the prep
school that participants will get stabilized and establish or maintain healthy relationships with a
therapist, a caseworker, their village coach, and other participants,” she continued. “Residents learn to trust others and extend trust, speak up, engage in community, have accountability, and form boundaries. It's in this residential space that future village residents will learn about a peer driven culture and better understand what village life will be like. Graduating from the village prep school eases the transition
from a perpetually unsheltered lifestyle to a healthy lifestyle of independent living and being an active
part of an inclusive, clean, sober, and connected neighborhood.
“By the time a person has graduated from The Village Prep School and moved into the village, they have taken control of their life and engaged with the community,” Holt said. “As a person enters the village community they are embraced by the other residents and brought into a lifelong support group. It’s basically an extension of the therapeutic process experienced in the village prep school. Even though residents now live in permanent private homes, their social bonds remain and are continually nurtured. Mentoring and coaching by our village staff will remain an ongoing part of community life,” she added.
“This is just the start of our dream. We have already begun work on developing the adjacent 30 acres to have a total of over 430 homes onsite to help hundreds more of those still living in encampments, on the streets and in the shelters,” stated Joseph Grenny. “Our commitment is to make the Village a proud asset of Salt Lake’s West Side while showing the Utah Way of addressing a complex social challenge.”
The Other Side Village is a self-reliant, master-planned neighborhood that provides affordable, permanent quality housing, access to social services, and a robust and supportive community for men and women coming out of chronic homelessness.”
According to plans, TOSV housing will be arranged in neighborhoods of approximately 25-35 furnished homes each with amenities and green spaces to include a small pavilion, laundry, and a multipurpose room for social gatherings. The TOSV complex will also implement security at the site.
The Other Side Village wants to be “held accountable,” said Joseph Grenny, chairperson of The Other Side Foundation, adding that the village will not solve all the homeless problems but will give hundreds of people the chance to get off the streets.
The village is part of a statewide plan (Change: Utah’s Plan to Prevent Homelessness under the Utah Department of Workforce Services) to address and decrease homelessness in Utah. The mission is to “work together to make homelessness in Utah rare, brief and non-recurring,” according to State Homeless Coordinator Wayne Niederhauser. To do this, the plan calls for coordination of services and resources to reduce gaps in affordable housing, health services, case management, prevention, data gathering and transportation.
The plan states that everyone must work together to develop strategies, invest resources, and invite partners from across sectors to contribute toward the goal to end homelessness; and ensure that the system of services is coordinated and adequately funded to effectively support individuals and families who face homelessness in Utah. This strategic plan establishes statewide goals and benchmarks on which to measure progress toward these goals. One major goal in the plan is to reduce first time homelessness by 10 percent per year.
“The plan identifies best practices and areas for improvement, ensuring all services are provided in a safe, cost-effective and efficient manner,” said Niederhauser. “While we have made real progress in some areas of homeless services,” he said, “there is still much to do. We look forward to working with all stakeholders statewide to make significant and impactful advancements.”
Depending on the source and due to the transient nature of the homeless population, the number of homeless individuals in Utah is estimated to be 3,000 and 10,000 individuals (depending on the time of year) with the majority being in Salt Lake City. The Utah plan will work in conjunction with the recently developed federal plan and include increasing affordable housing and emergency beds, supporting landlord/tenant relations, and creating a system for homeless individuals to access available housing and services. In addition, the plan calls for increased access to mental and health services and providing job opportunities for the homeless population.
The Salt Lake Valley Coalition to End Homelessness – comprising local partners including Catholic Community Services, First Step House, Fourth Street Clinic and Housing Connect – is the entity that helps coordinate the state plan at the local level, said Wesemann. “Our goal is to get people off the streets and into affordable homes that include supportive services,” said Wesemann, adding that one potential for permanent housing is converting older hotels and motels into affordable apartments.
One of the major local partners to end homelessness is the Jordan River Commission. According to the Jordan River Commission’s Executive Director, Soren Simonsen, over the past decade as the population of unsheltered individuals in the greater Wasatch Region has grown, many are seeking refuge on the banks of the Jordan River.
“Camping on the river corridor is not permitted,” Simonsen said, “except in a few specifically designated RV and tent camping locations intended for recreational use. Those experiencing unsheltered homelessness are at great personal environmental risk from extreme heat and cold, wildfires and floods, and are frequent victims of drug predation, sexual assault and other violence, and the loss of personal possessions by theft, law enforcement and public health abatements that often perpetuate the personal, individual crises at the roots of homelessness. In addition,” Simonsen said, “homeless encampments are damaging long-term efforts to restore ecological integrity to the Jordan River.”
There is also a federal plan under Health and Human Services and the US Interagency Council on Homelessness (UISCH) called All In. Its goal is to reduce homelessness by 25 percent by the end of 2025. According to a fact sheet, the federal plan is the most ambitious effort by any administration to prevent people from becoming homeless, address inequities that disproportionately impact underserved communities, including people of color and other marginalized groups, and help cities and states reduce the unsheltered population.
For more information on the federal plan go to usich.gov. For the state and local strategic plans go to endutahhomelessness.org.
The Other Side Foundation is the parent organization of The Other Side Village, The Other Side Academy SLC, and The Other Side Academy Denver. The Board of Directors for the Foundation is the board over all three entities.
The Other Side Village has nonprofit status and is founded on the conviction that housing alone will never solve homelessness, but community will, said Cochran, noting that most of the funding for phase one has been raised through private donations. For more information on the village project go to https://www.theothersidevillage.com.