By the time David Durocher was 38, he had been to prison four times and was facing a 22-year sentence. His life had followed a path paved with addiction, crime, and despair. But that path took an extraordinary turn—one that now allows him to help others rewrite their own stories at The Other Side Academy, a 2.5 year residential life skills and vocational training program based in Millcreek, Utah.
Durocher’s story begins long before prison. Guns, arrests, and prison time soon followed in a relentless cycle.
Each prison stint got longer. Two years. Five years. Six years. Ten. “The day I got out, I was already on my way back,” he says.
But what he thought was his worst day turned out to be the beginning of a new life.
Desperate for another way, Durocher wrote a four-page letter to the judge, confessing everything. He pleaded guilty and asked for one chance—to go to Delancey Street, a two-year program for people like him. Against his better judgment, the judge agreed, suspending the sentence on the condition that if Durocher failed the program, he’d serve all 22 years.
That gamble paid off.
Durocher didn’t just complete the program—he stayed for eight and a half years. “Change takes time,” he says. “Three and a half years in, the president of Delancey asked me to manage the L.A. facility. I was still a resident and I did it for free. I owed. I believe the soul keeps the score.”
While managing a multimillion-dollar organization, Durocher discovered a calling: helping others walk the same difficult road to transformation. “Lived experience—credible messengers—are the best therapists for this group,” he says. “There’s not a class in the world that can teach what we’ve lived.”
When a former Delancey graduate connected him with Joseph Grenny and Tim Stay, two men hoping to replicate the model in Utah, Durocher knew he’d found his next step. Together, they launched The Other Side Academy.
Now in its tenth year, The Other Side Academy is a 30-month, no-cost residential program serving those battling addiction and criminal behavior. The average student has been arrested more than 25 times. But here, there are no doctors or therapists—just people who’ve been there. “We broke our lives. We should fix our lives,” Durocher says. “That’s why this model works.”
The program is entirely self-sustained, funded through its thriving social enterprises: The Other Side Moving and Storage (Utah’s top-rated moving company), The Other Side Builders, and two large thrift stores. “We take no money from the government,” Durocher emphasizes. “And nobody leaves just because their funding runs out. That’s where traditional treatment fails.”
Students live and work together in a community that prioritizes accountability and radical honesty. “They told me the truth at Delancey Street,” Durocher says. “I was a liar, a cheater, a thief, a gun runner. And I needed to hear that to change. That’s love—telling someone the truth even when it’s hard.”
Since opening its doors, The Other Side Academy has expanded to nine properties in Utah and a second campus in Denver. City leaders across the country are now visiting to learn how to replicate the model in their own communities. The ripple effect is undeniable—and it started with one man’s willingness to change.
“I compare every hard day to life in prison,” Durocher says. “There are no bad days anymore. Every day is a blessing.”
He lives on-site with the students, available 24/7. “We love our students so much, we live with them,” he says. “If I can change, anyone can change. But it starts with asking for help.”
To those still struggling, Durocher offers a simple message: “Reach out. Ask for help. Call The Other Side Academy and ask for me. I’ll get you an interview—or into another program that can help. Life is worth living.”
“We take no money from the government, and nobody leaves because their funding runs out. That’s where traditional treatment fails.”
“Lived experience—credible messengers—are the best therapists for this group, there’s not a class in the world that can teach what we’ve lived.”