A Nonprofit Driving Meaningful Change for the Unhoused

Preston Cochrane

Housing is essential, but is it enough to create lasting change for people experiencing chronic homelessness? In this episode, Rob Harter speaks with Preston Cochrane, CEO of The Other Side Village in Salt Lake City, Utah, about the nonprofit’s human-centered approach to homelessness. Rather than treating residents as clients or case numbers, the organization creates a supportive community where people can rebuild relationships, rediscover purpose, develop practical skills, and take responsibility for their futures.

Preston explains how The Other Side Village combines permanent housing with peer mentorship, meaningful work, recovery support, social enterprise, and a democratic therapeutic community. He also discusses the need to balance compassion with accountability, why lived experience is central to the organization’s coaching model, and how the village measures long-term success through housing stability, self-reliance, sobriety, and crime-free living.

Key Topics Include:

Why housing alone may not address the isolation, trauma, addiction, mental health challenges, and broken relationships connected to chronic homelessness

How a human-centered model helps residents move beyond short-term stabilization toward lasting transformation

The importance of balancing compassion and accountability when serving people experiencing homelessness

How coaches with lived experience provide credible peer support, mentorship, and encouragement

Why residents are called neighbors and participate in a democratic therapeutic community

How social enterprises provide employment, workforce training, purpose, and sustainable revenue

The four outcomes The Other Side Village uses to measure success: permanent housing, employment or self-reliance, drug-free living, and crime-free living

Mentioned in This Episode: