Back to the team…
Meet Robyn Sims
Program Staff
When Robyn was released from jail in March of 2016, she began a journey that would change her life forever. She knew that if something didn’t change she would be incarcerated again soon enough. She found herself at a crossroads. Was she going to go back to the same old people and places she had been getting high with or was she going to do something different? Robyn started the 7-mile walk from Salt Lake County Jail to The Other Side Academy.
Robyn’s stay at The Academy was a terrifying process of coming to terms with who she had become: someone who had lost everything of value, including her integrity and self-worth. But she saw a community of peers who were just like her, who had changed their lives, and who wanted to support her to do the same.
“The most valuable lesson I learned at The Academy is that vulnerability is strength and that I can never give up. Trying isn’t enough, I have to do.”
Over the years, Robyn completely transformed and in doing so, became an effective change agent in the transformation of others. She was one of the first graduates to be hired as a staff member. She went on to become a founding member of The Other Side Academy Denver and helped build it from the ground up. She leads the Legal Department as well as the Community Outreach effort. Robyn plays a critical role in guiding prospective students through the justice system and into The Other Side Academy.
Robyn's hope is to be that beacon of hope for those like her who are still lost. She wants to use her story to inspire others to take action to better their lives. She will always be vigilant in keeping The Other Side Academy a safe place for broken people to heal.