In a city where conversations about addiction, recidivism, and the unhoused unfortunately often center on what’s broken, The Other Side Academy–Denver offers a powerful counterpoint: a community that rebuilds lives from the inside out.
The Other Side Academy began in 2015 in Salt Lake City, inspired by more than six decades of proven therapeutic-community models. “The mission was simple: create a place where individuals ready to change could come—regardless of their past, their finances, or their history—and build a new future,” says Lola Strong, Managing Director of The Other Side Academy-Denver. What began as a single house has grown to include multiple homes, a women’s program, graduate housing, and thriving social enterprises—now extending its impact through a growing Denver campus.
The philosophy is rooted in honesty, accountability, and unconditional love. In this peer-led environment, students hold each other accountable every day. “This peer feedback is always rooted in care—not punishment,” Strong says. “Over time, students learn that accountability is actually a form of love.” Many staff members are graduates themselves, which fosters a culture of trust. “Their presence sends a powerful message to every student: If I can do it, you can do it,” Strong says.
The 30-month residential program commitment gives students time to stabilize, develop emotional maturity, step into leadership roles, and practice the daily rhythms of “right living”—showing up, telling the truth, contributing to the community. They also learn to “act as if,” practicing the behaviors of the person they want to become until those behaviors reshape their identity.
“Meaningful change takes time,” Strong emphasizes. Students often arrive with years of trauma, addiction, and instability behind them. “Short-term programs can interrupt crisis, she says, “but long-term immersion is what truly rewires behavior and identity.”
The Other Side Movers and The Other Side Furniture Boutique
“The Other Side Academy was built on the belief that people deserve a chance to change their lives without barriers—and without creating a financial burden for taxpayers,” says Strong. “To make that possible, we operate entirely on revenue from our own social enterprises.”
Those enterprises—The Other Side Movers and The Other Side Furniture Boutique—don’t just fund the Academy’s 30-month residential program. They’re also the training ground where students learn to work, lead, show up, and trust themselves again. “This self-sustaining model gives us remarkable freedom,” Strong explains. “It allows us to offer a long-term, residential program at no cost to students or the public, and it ensures we can follow practices that truly work.”
Students join moving crews, manage boutique inventory, serve customers, and take on roles many never imagined for themselves. “Many haven’t had someone trust them in years, and being part of a professional crew or managing a boutique department can be life-changing,” she says. Through that work, students “grow in confidence, integrity, and self-worth. They begin to understand that they are capable, reliable, and valuable—and that sense of identity becomes the foundation for lifelong change.”
The Academy is financially self-sustaining, but it is community-supported—and that support matters deeply. “People who hire our moving company, shop at the boutique, offer professional expertise, or simply extend encouragement play an important role in our students’ lives,” Strong says. “When the community gives someone a chance to succeed, that belief often becomes the spark that keeps them moving forward.”
At its core, The Other Side Academy–Denver is a place where lives are rebuilt—not through charity, but through hard work, accountability, and belief. And the simplest way to support that mission is by using the very businesses that keep the doors open. When you hire The Other Side Movers, shop the boutique, or donate furniture, you’re doing more than supporting a business—you’re helping someone build a life they once believed was out of reach.
Learn more about how to support The Other Side Academy-Denver at TheOtherSideAcademy.com.