In April, we had our second Village Voices seminar, a special once-a-month session that guest-stars some of the world’s strongest advocates for helping the homeless and provides updates to the cause. Each seminar consists of three parts:
- A personal account of someone who has lived the difficulties of homelessness — and has found peace, community, and redemption.
- A quick update about The Other Side Village.
- A special speaker who dives into a specific topic about helping the homeless.
We started the seminar with Russell Pearson, a graduate of The Other Side Academy who became our first Village Coach – he shared his story of becoming homeless as an adult and cycling through different service offerings.
Russell is a veteran of Desert Storm and didn’t begin using hard drugs until his thirties. By then, Russell explained, he realized that his poor choices had caught up to him. “[I’d] reached a point where I was either going back to prison or writ[ing] a letter to The Other Side Academy,” he said. “And that’s what I did.” To this day, Russell keeps a special reminder of the opportunity he was given, and how it saved his life.
After a quick update about the exciting process of securing a temporary “Welcome Neighborhood,” the new Village Coaches, and our incoming freshman class, we moved on to our special guest, Tim Stay, the CEO of both The Other Side Academy and The Other Side Village.
Russell’s story teed up a question that Tim took head on: How do you make a house a home?
According to Tim, a home provides more than just shelter over your head. It provides:
- Accountability. “If you don’t have that accountability…those who really are serious about wanting to change their lives don’t have the opportunity.”
- Community. Temporary tiny homes communities like some of the ones we see in other cities don’t foster a sense of unity between residents.
- Opportunity. “While [these projects] are getting people out of the elements, they’re not helping people change their lives.”
Besides those three key pillars of what makes a home a home, homes should be comfortable and enjoyable to dwell in. The guiding principle that drives the design of the homes at The Other Side Village is a simple question: Would we want to live there? Because of this principle, Tim explained, every Village home will have:
- A beautifully furnished and decorated bedroom
- A bathroom with a toilet, shower, and sink
- A kitchen with a fridge, microwave, sink, stove, and oven
- Heat and A/C
- A living space to relax and have guests
Tim is overjoyed to not just shelter the homeless, but to change their lives. What truly makes a house a home for our residents is the ability to help them reach their full potential. Tim and the entire team are dedicated to the vision of a Village that fosters personal growth and develops intimate, long-term relationships.
In fact, this process is already underway, as the temporary Welcome Neighborhood introduced in the Village update is well on the way to establishing a culture of love and truth and helping Neighbors develop themselves accordingly.
This has only been a quick glimpse at this month’s Village Voices seminar. For Russell’s full account and Tim’s complete presentation, watch the seminar here.
Want to stay in the know about all of the happenings at the Village? Sign up for our newsletter!