Three Community Nonprofits Awarded Small Project Design Grants

The Other Side Village in Salt Lake City is a master-planned community addressing chronic homelessness through human connection, accountability and economic participation. This thoughtfully designed tiny home anchors a neighborhood of themed rentals, where every night booked funds housing and support for chronically homeless neighbors. Built with natural, healthy materials, it also serves as a living classroom, uniting tradespeople and members of the homeless community through hands-on workshops. It shows how building a little differently can restore connection — to craft, to community and to nature.

The Other Side asked Strawtegi, a Salt Lake City design and prefab collaboration, to create a home built with natural, carbon-storing materials. Regenerative Building Solutions, Resource Engineering Group and Peterson & Associates Construction are collaboratively designing the Butterfly House.

In late 2024, Esperanza Latino Center of Northern Kentucky purchased its building in Covington, Kentucky. The organization owns the property without debt, securing long-term stability. The building, however, was not originally designed to operate as a high-volume community center.

All services at Esperanza are provided free of charge. The center serves an average of 20 people per day, and in 2025 it assisted more than 5,600 cases across health access, education support, immigration navigation and financial well-being services. On many days, medical visits, legal consultations, youth programming and walk-in assistance occur simultaneously in a limited space.

The current layout presents clear limitations. The building has only one bathroom and no kitchenette. There is no accessible water source beyond the bathroom sink and the clinic sink. Circulation becomes tight during peak hours, and privacy for sensitive conversations must be improved. This project ensures the building supports the scale and seriousness of the work happening inside it, today and in the years ahead.

The UJAMAA Economic Development Corporation exists to lead the equitable and sustainable revitalization of the Cultural Innovation District (CID), the Claiborne Corridor and surrounding neighborhoods of New Orleans. The organization works to preserve cultural heritage, strengthen community ownership and promote inclusive economic opportunity through collaborative stakeholder engagement, institutional capacity building and responsible redevelopment. Grant funds will help develop an outdoor community café and exhibition display within the "Tambourine and Fan" section of the CID master plan. The project will focus on developing the final program and design of the 1200 and 1300 blocks of North Claiborne Avenue to include an outdoor café, exhibition display and rain gardens to address flooding in the area.

For more additional details and past recipients, visit the AIA Community Hub.