One City’s Fix for Homelessness: Tiny Houses with Plenty of Neighbours

This 51-acre master planned community provides affordable, permanent housing and a supportive community for men and women coming out of chronic homelessness.

Community First! Village is the most talked about neighborhood in Austin, Texas

Mobile Loaves & Fishes, a social outreach ministry that was founded 20 years ago in Austin, Texas, is leading an unprecedented collaborative effort to mitigate homelessness in the city. This transformative community of tiny homes exists to care for and serve individuals who are coming out of chronic homelessness and yearn for a permanent place to call home.

Source: YouTube/MobileLoaves&Fishes

Housing alone will never solve homelessness, but community will

Community First! Village, in Austin, Texas, is a place that enables homeless men and woman to heal from their ordeal. It’s a place where they can rediscover hope, renew their purpose and restore their dignity. Most importantly, it’s a place they can call home.

Phase I of the Village covers 27 acres and, once at full capacity, will be home to more than 200 formerly homeless men and women.

Features of Community First! Village Phase l include:

  • Organic gardens
  • Art studio
  • Blacksmith and woodworking shop
  • Outdoor movie theater
  • Medical facility
  • Laundry/restroom/shower facilities
  • Community kitchens
  • Memorial garden and prayer labyrinth
  • Capital Metro bus stop
  • Walking trails
  • Meeting spaces for worship, study and fellowship
  • Community Market
  • Community Inn bed & breakfast
  • Outdoor WiFi

A development of Mobile Loaves & Fishes, this transformative residential program exists to love and serve those who have been living on the streets, while also empowering the surrounding community into a lifestyle of service with the homeless.

Source: MLF.org

Community First! Village is the brainchild of founder Alan Graham, a real estate developer who started feeding people out of a pickup truck with four friends from Austin’s St. John Neumann Catholic Church two decades ago. They called it Mobile Loaves & Fishes and stocked the truck with fresh food and clean clothes.
Phase I of the Village covers 27 acres with Phase II construction already underway Community First! Village is the brainchild of founder Alan Graham, a real estate developer who started feeding people out of a pickup truck with four friends from Austin’s St. John Neumann Catholic Church two decades ago. They called it Mobile Loaves & Fishes and stocked the truck with fresh food and clean clothes. Source: MLF.org
Aerial overview of the Community First! Village Source: MLF.org
Through Genesis Gardens, neighbors from all over Austin come together to practice hospitality, recall what it means to put down roots and share the abundance of our yields. The farm at Community First! Village features: • Gardens with fruit and nut-bearing trees and vegetables; • Chicken operation for fresh, organic eggs; • Bee hives producing fresh honey; • Goats for producing cheese, milk and soap.
Genesis Gardens – Cultivating Community through Agriculture Through Genesis Gardens, neighbors from all over Austin come together to practice hospitality, recall what it means to put down roots and share the abundance of our yields. The farm at Community First! Village features:
• Gardens with fruit and nut-bearing trees and vegetables;
• Chicken operation for fresh, organic eggs;
• Bee hives producing fresh honey;
• Goats for producing cheese, milk and soap. Source: MLF.org

Phase II: It takes Community to Build Community

Phase II of the Village is directly adjacent to the Phase I development and adds an additional 24 acres—bringing the entire property to 51 total acres.

Once complete, nearly 500 formerly homeless individuals will be living in Community First!—representing about 40% of Austin’s chronically homeless population.

Phase II of the Village will utilise the existing infrastructure of Phase I and will add these structures and amenities:

  • 100 RV homes
  • 200 Micro-homes with some additional Missional homes
  • 7 Laundry/Restroom Facilities
  • 7 Outdoor Kitchens
  • Community Gardens
  • Community Clinic
  • Respite Care Center
  • Outdoor Event Center
  • Community Works Space
  • Guest Parking Lot
  • Donor Garden
Source: MLF.org

In the autumn of 2018, Mobile Loaves & Fishes took a significant step in its ongoing effort to mitigate homelessness in Austin with the first expansion of Community First! Village. Phase II of the Village will utilise the existing infrastructure of Phase I.
Phase II will add an additional 24 acres to the project—bringing the entire property to 51 acres overall In the autumn of 2018, Mobile Loaves & Fishes took a significant step in its ongoing effort to mitigate homelessness in Austin with the first expansion of Community First! Village. Phase II of the Village will utilise the existing infrastructure of Phase I. Source: MLF.org

About Mobile Loaves & Fishes

Mobile Loaves & Fishes began when five parishioners of St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Austin, Texas boldly answered God’s call to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

Alan Graham and his friends began delivering meals out of the back of a minivan to men and women they found living on the streets. 

Graham readily admits that the group’s original approach for serving the homeless had some flaws, but with the help of a formerly homeless man they perfected the model that Mobile Loaves & Fishes successfully uses today.

Their first trip serving meals on the streets of Austin was in September of 1998. Within a few months Graham and his group purchased a pick-up truck with a catering bed. 

Since that first truck run, Mobile Loaves & Fishes volunteers have served more than 5 million meals with a side of hope to homeless men and women living on the streets. 

Delivering more than a sandwich, Mobile Loaves & Fishes volunteers hit the streets 7 nights a week, 365 days a year to provide food, clothing, hygiene products and other life-sustaining items to our homeless neighbors who are struggling to survive. 

With the support of more than 20,000 volunteers, Mobile Loaves & Fishes is the largest prepared feeding program to the homeless in Austin, Texas and has spawned similar food truck programs in other cities across the country.

These homes are approximately 275 square feet in size averaging about 8’ wide by 30’ in length with slide outs that add to the spaciousness of the living areas. Each unit includes a full-service kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living area.
Phase II RV Homes ($35,000 each) 80 units available These homes are approximately 275 square feet in size averaging about 8’ wide by 30’ in length with slide outs that add to the spaciousness of the living areas. Each unit includes a full-service kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living area. Source: Mlf.org
These environmentally friendly homes are between 180–200 square feet and have electrical power but no plumbing. Community kitchen and private restroom and shower facilities are available for use throughout the Village.
Phase II Micro Homes ($25,000 each) 170 units available These environmentally friendly homes are between 180–200 square feet and have electrical power but no plumbing. Community kitchen and private restroom and shower facilities are available for use throughout the Village. Source: Mlf.org

Building hope by building a neighbourhood: how you can help Community First! Village

With your help, Mobile Loaves & Fishes will build an additional 300 homes on Phase II and additional amenities. Phase II will offer a variety of naming opportunities to serve as a lasting legacy. Sponsorships may include naming and unique opportunities to prepare the home and attend a very special house blessing. Click to discover how you can help or get involved.

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