SALT LAKE CITY — After experiencing homelessness for two years, Gideon Nieman laid eyes on his future home.
“I just enjoy that feeling of people not looking at me anymore and thinking, ‘Oh, he's homeless,’” he said. “It's going to be a beacon. People will see what we do, and I hope that it will encourage them to make the change, to want to better their life and get themselves off the street, into a better position.”
On Thursday, The Other Side Village installed its first tiny home in a lot off of Redwood Road on Salt Lake City’s west side.
“This is the foundation of what will become a larger community for individuals who've experienced chronic homelessness,” said Preston Cochrane, CEO of The Other Side Village.
A handful of future residents will move in before the end of the year, he said.
“This just represents transformation and hope,” said Cochrane. “It gives them a safe, beautiful place to rebuild their lives and reclaim their future.”
Once the village is finished, more than 500 people will be living there. The Other Side Village is not a housing project, but a community, said Joseph Grenny, Co-Founder and Board Chairman.
“We're offering to bring resources and assets,” he said. “This will lift the community. We'll be bringing a performance hall and stores and services that don't exist on the west side right now, and we expect to be one of the favored neighbors of the entire area.”
Getting into permanent housing makes Nieman confident that he will never live on the streets again, he said.
“I told myself, ‘One and done,’ and the village is it,” said Nieman. “I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be great.”
