‘It takes a village to build a village’: The Other Side of rehabilitating homelessness

New tiny home being installed next to tiny cabin under construction on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026 (Photo by Will Ruzanski for Utah News Dispatch)

The Other Side Village in Salt Lake City installed a new tiny home Friday, taking another step to ease chronic homelessness using rehabilitation practices leaders call a “whole person” approach.

The village — a long-term residential development with almost 60 single-person tiny homes — is democratically run by neighbors with a focus on community accountability. Community members vote to allow applicants into a prep school, which they must complete before a second round of voting to allow them into the village.

“This is our approach, nobody else is doing it how we’re doing it,” said Camille Winnie, vice president and cofounder of the village. “The home is one part of the puzzle, it’s not the whole story.”

The expansion is part of a three-phase plan — currently in phase one aimed at building 81 homes — which will eventually host 456 tiny homes on the property. But Friday’s expansion isn’t residential, it’s a rentable unit that’s part of The Other Side Inn, an Airbnb-style endeavor. 

“This is one of the enterprises that helps generate income and jobs for our residents,” Winnie said. “The income from these homes here will be rented on the vacation rental market.”

The Other Side Inn is just one of the endeavors residents will run to fund their community, along with The Other Side Donuts and The Other Side Foods. 

“Those revenues are able to generate the necessary operational funding to make our programs no cost to anybody,” said Preston Cochrane, CEO of The Other Side Village. “All these social enterprises underneath The Other Side Academy are a self sustaining model.”

Referencing the community’s growth, Cochrane said “it takes a village to build a village.”

Building a community

The Other Side’s “democratic, therapeutic community” approach to chronic homelessness is holistic, one meant to rehabilitate the individual and address the root causes of homelessness, leaders say. 

For residents like Lori McQueen — one of the village’s first residents — the community means “everything.”

“It’s all about family, being together, holding each other accountable,” she said. “Someone holding me accountable as much as I’m holding them accountable, keeping each other safe and sober. For those that had issues with it, it’s important.”

After taking a Greyhound bus from Florida to Salt Lake City, McQueen was unsheltered for 5 months before she was approached by The Other Side. She said the democratic community is empowering, and helps build community. 

“When we have something or they bring something, we have the right to vote on it,” she said. “Somebody entering the community, a rule change, we have a right to vote on it.”

Winnie told Utah News Dispatch “housing doesn’t address the other issues and challenges that are the root cause of why somebody is homeless,” emphasizing that the real work is done through long-term rehabilitation. 

“What we focus on is ‘whole person change,’” she said. “We have a life skills training program that focuses on the skills, the behaviors, all of the things that somebody needs to stay housed, stay employed and stay sober.”

Pioneering chronic homelessness rehabilitation

The Other Side’s holistic rehabilitation approach has drawn attention from across Utah and beyond, including a visit from Utah’s Republican Gov. Spencer Cox.

“We’ve had a lot of interest from other cities, not just in Utah, but throughout the country who have been here to visit and see how they can replicate what we’re doing here,” Cochrane said. “There’s a lot more that goes into it than just providing housing… we believe it’s a model that provides a long term solution for individuals that have experienced long term homelessness.”

If Utah lawmakers answer Gov. Spencer Cox’s budget request, the Legislature may give The Other Side Village $5 million to build 35 additional tiny homes, which would bring the total to 95. Cochrane said lawmakers have signaled they want to prioritize the request, and he expects it to pass this session. 

He said the new houses would be built “within a few weeks” of receiving funding, “as quickly as we can get the land ready and those homes built.”

“(That’s) faster than any other housing program I’m aware of,” he said, emphasizing that once the initial building is complete, they “don’t plan on going back to the legislature for additional funding.”

Friday’s addition is a BOXABL tiny home, a made-to-order, foldable tiny home costing $60,000 dollars. Cochrane said the complete cost, including installation and preparation, ranges from $120,000 to $140,000. From there, homes are maintained by residents, or through BOXABL’s seven-year warranty. Utility costs are low, as the units are well insulated and small. 

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