The Other Side Village is giving some of SLC’s homeless population a place to call home
Dec 30, 2024, 7:48 PM
SALT LAKE CITY — After living in a women’s shelter for eight months, Jennifer Davis finally has a new home.
“I had a life and a family and a career in a past life, and I threw it away with addiction and trauma and choices. I really needed somebody to give me a second chance,” she said. “My long journey of looking for a fresh start, looking for an opportunity, it had finally reached the safe harbor.”
Davis is one of a handful of new residents moving into Salt Lake City’s first tiny home village.
The Other Side Village, a village of tiny homes, will allow Salt Lake City’s homeless population to be part of a community. Pictured Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. (KSL TV)
“This is about belonging, and this is creating a new kind of belonging in our capital city, and the first of its kind in the state of Utah,” said Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall.
This project has been three years in the making, and as The Other Side Village CEO Preston Cochrane said, it will allow these people to experience being part of a community.
“For most, they’ve been isolated on the street. They may not have that friendship or that camaraderie or people to lean on to help them,” he said. “This provides that immediate family or that friendship that will help them thrive.”
They’ve had setbacks in recent months, but have a goal of turning the 32 homes already built into 430 homes on this site.
“We’ll be moving them in as fast as we possibly can,” Cochrane said.
Davis is looking forward to moving in and baking banana bread in her new home. She hopes this project will have a ripple effect.
“Leading by example and just proving that chance is real and it’s possible, I think that’s probably where I’m gonna start,” she said.
To apply for a home at The Other Side Village, please call 801-618-1234 or email info@theothersidevillage.com. For more information on the program and its eligibility requirements, visit their website.
