Dexter, a resident of the tiny home village, in one of the neighborhood's many outdoor kitchens. PHOTO COURTESY OF MOBILE LOAVES & FISHES
Author: To read Phil West's article, please click here.
When Alan Graham refers to the residents of Community First! Village as “neighbors,” he’s speaking to the community created in this enclave of tiny homes, micro-homes, and RVs soon to expand beyond its 51-acre plot in East Austin.
Graham, a former real estate developer who launched the faith-based social outreach ministry Mobile Loaves & Fishes (MLF) in 1998 to serve Austin’s homeless community, conceived of the neighborhood as a way to help people transition from chronic homelessness.
“I started developing pretty deep relationships with men and women out on the streets,” Graham says of his work. “In 2003, I started spending the night out on the streets. I’ve personally spent about 250 nights there.”
In that time, he learned about the work ethic of people living out on the streets, negating the stereotypes about laziness and homelessness that people harbor. The greatest cause of homelessness, he believes, is “a profound, catastrophic loss of family”—sometimes through suffering unthinkable abuses, including forced drug use and sex trafficking while living with parents and other so-called caretakers.
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