The Other Side Academy is a long-term residential program helping individuals struggling with addiction and incarceration in Colorado. Now, the organization has opened its fifth location.
The Other Side Academy
CBS
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The group estimates its program saves taxpayers more than $2 million annually by keeping individuals out of jail. It achieves this without any government funding, relying instead on its resources.
The Other Side Academy funds its program through proceeds from its furniture store and a moving company. The program provides housing, treatment, and work opportunities for participants, the average of whom have been arrested 25 times.
At the top-rated moving company in Denver, donations aren’t just picked up—they are given new life at The Other Side Furniture Boutique.
Keith Spencer, a master’s student at The Other Side Academy, has come a long way.
“We have a lot of pride in our work. We are very careful, and we are very honest.”
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The company refurbishes and sells donated furniture, offering people like Spencer a second chance.
“We like to joke around and say, before we came to The Other Side Academy, we were the ones moving furniture without your permission,” Spencer said.
The Other Side Academy participants
CBS
For a decade, Spencer cycled in and out of jail, battling drug addiction and committing crimes. Now, he compares his chance to turn his life around to the furniture inside the store.
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“Things they thought would be beyond saving, that they didn’t want anymore, actually have a whole new life ahead of them,” Spencer said.
The Other Side Academy is a rehab center offering second chances at no cost.
Benjamin Alma Ger-Munoz, a participant in the program, believes it has been life-changing.
“I believe in what we are doing. I believe that we all need each other.”
It is where he found a family.
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“People like me, who haven’t had much structure in their lives or anyone to be an example, really get that here at The Other Side.”
The organization’s mission has now expanded with the opening of its fifth house—an old historic property in City Park West.
The Other Side Academy moving trucks.
CBS
Lola Strong, managing director of The Other Side Academy, is proud to see the program expand.
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“We want them to believe that they are worthy of living a better life and having beautiful things in their lives. And as you can see, we hit the mark with how beautiful the house came out.”
An old house, given new life, is now a place for new beginnings.
“I want to teach other people who had the same addiction I did how to live a better life, and that is what keeps me going,” said Spencer.
The new housing facility will provide support for an additional 48 people. The program boasts a 76% success rate.
The Other Side is accepting applications for its program and also for volunteer opportunities.
Police in Northern Colorado are investigating after a crash involving multiple vehicles claimed the life of a pedestrian.
The Greeley Police Department received reports of a crash at the 5500 block of Highway 34 around 5:50 p.m. on Monday. When officers arrived, they discovered that two vehicles were involved in a crash with a 19-year-old woman who attempted to walk across the highway.
Police said there was no crosswalk in the area, and she was struck by the driver’s side of a Chevrolet Blazer. The impact knocked the woman into the inside lane, where she was struck by a Chevrolet Traverse. A witness told officers they saw the woman crossing the roadway ‘as traffic arrived at her location.’
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First responders attempted life-saving measures on the woman at the scene before she was taken to North Colorado Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. GPD said the Weld County Coroner’s Office will release her identity at a later time.
Neither driver involved was injured in the crash. Police said they don’t expect charges to be filed against those drivers at the moment, but the case remains under investigation. The police department asked anyone with information on the crash to contact Officer Ed Kubala at Edward.Kubala@greeleypd.com.
Colorado’s best ski deal? Maybe one that costs nothing at all. At Steamboat Springs’ Howelsen Hill, “Sunday Funday is taken to an entirely new level,” reads the city webpage for Ski Free Sundays. Yes, on Sundays throughout the season, visitors need only to walk into the ticket office to grab a pass at no charge. […]
While Colorado ranks near the middle of U.S. states for carbon emissions per capita, it still produces enough CO2 per person to rival countries on the World Bank’s list of top emitters internationally.
In 2023, Colorado produced 13.9 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per capita. If it had been ranked by the World Bank during the same year, Colorado would have placed 14th among the more than 200 countries on the list, just behind Canada, at 14.1, and just ahead of the U.S. as a whole, at 13.7.
Among U.S. states, Colorado ranked 26th in carbon emissions per capita. Wyoming had the highest per capita emissions in the country, at 92.9 metric tons, while Maryland had the lowest, at 7.8.
Most of Colorado’s emissions come from energy production and consumption, primarily natural gas and oil production and electric power production and consumption.
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The Colorado Sun partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.
Sources
References:
Colorado State Energy Profile, U.S. Energy Information Administration, accessed in December 2025. Source link
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2023 Colorado Statewide Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, pg. 128, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, November 2024. Source link
Senate Bill 24-230 Oil and Gas Production Fees, Colorado General Assembly, accessed in December, 2025. Source link
Senate Bill 23-016 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Measures, Colorado General Assembly, accessed in December 2025. Source link
Carbon dioxide emissions, World Bank Group, 2024, accessed in December 2025. Source link
Energy-related CO2 emission data tables, U.S. Energy Information Administration, accessed in December 2025. Source link
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Type of Story: Fact-Check
Checks a specific statement or set of statements asserted as fact.
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Cassis Tingley is a Denver-based freelance journalist. She’s spent the last three years covering topics ranging from political organizing and death doulas in the Denver community to academic freedom and administrative accountability at the…
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