A timely reminder of how successful community life has been achieved for the homeless arrived in my inbox recently. The phenomenal success of the nationally renowned “Community First!” homeless community in Austin, Texas, was recently featured on the Today Show. Community First!, designed by Alan Graham to evoke a Garden of Eden-like experience in which the formerly unhoused are deeply known and unconditionally loved, continues to be a work in progress. The model has been so successful that they are breaking ground regularly for more and more housing units along with the features that create a well-functioning and vital community. For anyone who is interested in solutions to homelessness, and is not already familiar with this model, I encourage you to start investigating it at mlf.org/community-first/.

One of the more surprising aspects of the model is that they do not require sobriety. They also have a number of people living in the community who were previously housed, and even affluent, but chose to live in this authentic and beautiful community because it is the very definition of what community can and should be — which is to say that most communities are a far cry from this and we are all suffering from that lack of connection and mutual care. The recurring questions that keep pestering me are: Could this same model work elsewhere? Could it work here? What would it take to find out?

Earlier this month, I noticed a news article on a new model being implemented in Salt Lake City. From the information in the article, it sounds like it is a variation somewhat based on the Community First! model. For one thing, they use the same definition of homelessness — that it is a result of a “catastrophic loss of family.” If family is broadly defined to include anyone who should be expected to care enough to help, I think that definition is a good one. The Salt Lake City model is called “The Other Side Village.” It seems similar in theory to Community First! with one main difference being that “staff” are traditional service providers whereas in Community First! they are individuals with a calling to serve. Also, it seems like this will definitely be a sober community. You can check it out online.

Interestingly, the Other Side Academy which is spearheading the SLC program is based in both Salt Lake City and Denver. It is a “classic therapeutic community” of individuals who have lived through homelessness, addiction and mental illness, and have gone through extensive training to bring this model to others who are living through it now. Good to have such great resources in the local area.

Roxanne Peterson is the executive director and co-founder of the nonprofit Homeless Cares.