Salt Lake City—The board of The Other Side Village has unanimously chosen Preston Cochrane as its new chief executive officer.  Mr. Cochrane will succeed Tim Stay, who has been serving for the last 2 years as interim CEO until a full-time CEO could be selected. Preston Cochrane is an experienced senior executive with broad expertise and proven track record delivering results and leading organizations in the mental health, homeless non-profit, and entrepreneurial sectors. Preston is an innovative, scrappy, and even-keeled collaborator with an altruistic mindset.

Mr. Cochrane has most recently been the Vice President of Housing and Support Services at Valley Behavior Health in Salt Lake City, Utah.  In this role, Preston facilitated, directed, and coordinated the day-to-day operations of multiple programs to ensure cost effective, high-quality services are aligned to Valley’s mission, vision, and values. He oversaw supportive/transitional housing programs, independent living, residential treatment and homeless outreach.

Preston Cochrane has extensive experience working to alleviate homelessness.  Before joining Valley Behavior Health, Preston was the Executive Director of Shelter the Homeless also in Salt Lake City. As Executive Director, Mr. Cochrane’s responsibilities included leading a groundbreaking $65+ million-dollar construction project and capital fundraising campaign to design, develop and implement three multi-site homeless resource center complexes in Salt Lake County (Gail Miller Resource Center, Geraldine E. King Women’s Resource Center, and Pamela Atkinson Men’s Resource Center); and a $10M ‘Home4Change’ fundraising campaign for wraparound supportive services. His responsibilities included managing day-to-day operations, multi-site permanent supportive housing units, mobile health care clinic, public and private fundraising among many other duties.

Joseph Grenny, Chair of The Other Side Village, stated: “Preston has the exact mix of skills and experience we need for this important and innovative project.  He has deep experience with mental health issues and administration, has been at the heart of homelessness issues within Salt Lake City, is well respected by all the major partners, and has a strong private sector business experience.  He checks all the boxes that we could have hoped for.” Grenny continued, “Having Preston leading our team within the Village gives us even more confidence in the success of The Other Side Village.”

In addition to having Preston Cochrane join the team as CEO, The Other Side Village is also thrilled to announce that Emogene Hennick, PhD, LCSW, has been assigned to a full-time onsite position as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker by Valley Behavioral Health in a contract with The Other Side Village. Ms. Hennick will help design and lead the creation of the vital culture of accountability and peer support that will distinguish The Other Side Village. In doing so, she will oversee the Village Coach teams both in the Village Prep School and the Village itself. She will also oversee social services delivered within the Village.

Emogene Hennick received a Bachelor of Science degree from Weber State in Criminal Justice and Corrections, a Masters of Social Work and a PhD in Social Work, both from the University of Utah.  Ms. Hennick has worked as an LCSW at Valley Behavioral Health and has previously worked as a Social Worker at University of Utah Health and as a LCSW for the Utah Department of Corrections. Ms. Hennick’s PhD dissertation was titled, “The Homeless Court in Salt Lake City, Utah: Access to Justice and Mercy for a disenfranchised population.”

Mr. Grenny said, “The addition of these two remarkable leaders is an important milestone for the growth and development for the Village.  Much of our focus over the past year has been on the physical development of the site and buildings for the Village.  Having Preston’s leadership is a critical step in the development of our operational capacity to instill and maintain the culture of accountability that will be critical to the success of our community. Emogene’s arrival will add a crucial clinical mental-health perspective to the development of our Village culture. She will also help us fulfill our commitment to provide licensed mental health services through respected community partners for those coming off the streets and out of the shelters of Salt Lake City.”

Tim Stay, who has been serving as interim CEO for The Other Side Village for the past two years will continue to be heavily involved in the Village with construction, development, and fundraising issues and will continue in his role as CEO of The Other Side Foundation, the parent organization of The Other Side Village.

The Other Side Village will be under development later this summer and will be located at 1850 W Indiana Avenue.  Phase 1 will include 60 small cottage homes for the chronically homeless within the Salt Lake area and will also have an onsite mental and medical health clinic, a small bodega style grocery store, and onsite employment for residents of the Village.

For more information, visit http://www.TheOtherSideVillage.com