Driving through Austin, we can’t help but see our homeless neighbors flying signs on street corners and setting up camp under bridges. In recent months, media outlets have been headlining stories while politicians and community groups have been offering up different solutions to help address the state of homelessness in our city. Conversation is happening in a way that I’ve never witnessed before, and I believe this new level of dialogue is good. In fact, it gives me hope.

The suffering we are seeing on our streets is not an intractable situation. We need to accept, however, that it’s also not a fix-and-repair situation, or one waiting for a cure that will just make it go away. The only way we are going to mitigate this crisis is through caring about each other as human beings.

For 22 years, Mobile Loaves & Fishes has been deeply rooted in serving our homeless neighbors. When our truck ministry first hit the streets, it was you—our donors and volunteers—who provided more than a meal for an empty belly. You offered a listening ear, a compassionate heart and you built relationships with our homeless neighbors. Together, we listened and learned. We discovered homelessness isn’t caused by a lack of housing. It’s not caused by addictions or physical or mental health disabilities. What we learned and hold true today is that the single greatest cause of homelessness is a profound, catastrophic loss of family.

For our homeless friends to settle, heal and transform their lives, they need more than four walls and a roof. As someone told me recently, “A house cannot hug you.” Our friends coming up off the streets need you and I to support and care for them.

This truth is the foundation for Community First! Village. Our 51-acre master planned neighborhood provides affordable, permanent housing and a supportive community for men and women coming out of chronic homelessness. Currently, the Village is 95% occupied with 180 formerly homeless friends now living here.