A Message From Our Founder
In 1998, Mobile Loaves & Fishes’ founders boldly answered God’s call to “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Mobile Loaves & Fishes is a Christian social outreach ministry that empowers communities into a lifestyle of service with the homeless.
Our mission to provide food and clothing, cultivate community and promote dignity to our homeless brothers and sisters is accomplished through our core programs: Community First! Village, Community Works and our Truck Ministry.
Our Core Values
Mobile Loaves & Fishes promotes a culture that prioritizes relational connection. Every aspect of our work has the opportunity to be relational in a highly transactional world, and we use these transactions as the means to a relational end. This begins with the countercultural love poured out by Jesus Christ and grows as imperfect people strive to show this love to each other human to human, heart to heart.
We believe this culture flourishes as we each continuously strive to more fully embody these four core values; faith, humility, generous spirit, and integrity.
Empowering Communities
We are incredibly grateful for the many ways you—our beloved missionals, dedicated volunteers, and loyal donors—continue to show up to care for and support our neighbors who need us most.
6.9 Million +
meals served
since 1998
For our homeless neighbors, the Mobile Loaves & Fishes trucks are a symbol of relief, hope and friendship. Since 1998, MLF volunteers gather at commissaries throughout the city to prepare food and hit the streets 7 nights a week, 365 days a year providing meals, clothing, hygiene products and other life-sustaining items to our friends on the street.
10
trucks serving
in the austin area
Cultivating Community Within Communities
Neighborhoods of Knowingness
MLF’s Neighborhoods of Knowingness architectural design used in the Village combines a mix of home models in pockets of 40-50 homes, which are grouped around a communal area and shared community buildings, such as an outdoor kitchen or a laundry/restroom/shower facility. This design allows neighbors and the broader community to connect more regularly in a shared area of the neighborhood.
Neighborhoods of Knowingness
Neighborhoods of Knowingness
MLF’s Neighborhoods of Knowingness architectural design used in the Village combines a mix of home models in pockets of 40-50 homes, which are grouped around a communal area and shared community buildings, such as an outdoor kitchen or a laundry/restroom/shower facility. This approach allows neighbors to connect more regularly in a shared area of the neighborhood.
Life in Community First! Village
A house becomes a home when those who reside there gain a sense of affiliation and belonging. At Community First! Village, when neighbors reconnect with themselves and bond with the people around them, trust is earned and friendships are made.
Community First! Village offers our neighbors a wholistic environment that helps them to settle in, cultivate new friendships and grow as they heal and transform their lives. You are invited to explore the Village through this interactive map:
By The Numbers
Neighbor Leaders
In April of 2025, we developed a Neighbor Leader program at Community First! Village. Our Neighbor Leaders are community connectors, who engage other neighbors in community events and help ensure that all neighbors have access to community resources.
by the numbers
New Neighbors
When new neighbors move into Community First! Village, we aim to turn their houses into homes with an extra touch of care and support to help with their homemaking needs. Our neighbors get to select their home and give us design ideas of how they would like it to be decorated. Each home comes completely furnished and stocked with everything a new neighbor will need for a fresh start in their new home!
by the numbers
Dignified Income
The Community Works program provides opportunities for individuals who have experienced homelessness to rediscover purpose and apply their God-given talents to earn a dignified income. The program empowers Mobile Loaves & Fishes volunteers to serve alongside our friends as they develop new skills, while also cultivating enduring relationships.
In 2025, dignified income was collectively earned by formerly homeless artists, makers, hospitality, maintenance, janitorial and groundskeeping contractors through our Community Works programs.
on-site partner services:
on-site partner services:
by the numbers
Service Partners
Our partners are vital to empowering communities into a lifestyle of service with the homeless. It is through these partnerships that we are serving goodness to our friends surviving on the streets and welcoming many of them home to Community First! Village.
by the numbers
Art House
The Art House program offers a safe and supportive environment that fosters healing and creative expression for our formerly homeless neighbors. Mobile Loaves & Fishes partners with artists living in the Village to assist with the promotion and sale of their artwork, supporting their efforts to earn a dignified income through the use of their unique, God-given talents.
by the numbers
Medical Transportation
Our Medical Transportation program offers free rides for Community First! Village neighbors Monday through Friday. 26% of our CFV neighbors used our Medical Transportation Program to get safely to and from their medical appointments in 2025.
by the numbers
Living Room
When our neighbors need a space for gathering, sharing meals, playing games, watching movies and simply hanging out, you will find them in the Living Room! Equipped with a TV Room, game room, computers and two program rooms, our neighbors have just what they need to share life together!
More Activities in the Living Room
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Community Meals
Powerful human to human, heart to heart connections are made through the hospitality of shared meals. At Community First! Village, our neighbors are invited to find their place at the table to receive nourishment for their bodies and souls through community meals provided and served by caring volunteers.
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Site Operations
The Community First! Village Site Operations team is responsible for the design, construction, and maintenance of physical assets at all CFV properties.
Meet Our Neighbors
Each of us has a story to tell about who we are and how we got to where we are in life, and the element of community, whether you realize it or not, has played a vital part. Hosted by Alan Graham, founder and CEO of Mobile Loaves & Fishes, the ‘Gospel Con Carne’ podcast explores the woundedness of society through the untold stories of individuals who have encountered homelessness.
Expansion Property Progress
Thank You! You Make Good Things Happen.
Thank you for serving alongside us, caring for our community, and helping us to continue to lift our neighbors experiencing homelessness up off the streets and bringing them home to Community First! Village.
Donor Appreciation Event
In March of 2025, donors were invited to come and learn more about life in Community First! Village and how they are vital to all that happens here. With opportunities to hear directly from the MLF Neighbor Care and Property Management teams, our donors discovered how our neighbors are welcomed home to CFV and how they are supported by this community as they begin to settle in and rebuild their lives.
happenings
Ten Years of CFV
Community First! Village turned 10 in 2025 and it was certainly a reason to celebrate! Hundreds of men and women who were living on the streets of Austin found their home and place of belonging in Community First! Village.
We celebrated 10 years of Community First! Village with our first-ever Love Your Neighbor 5K Fun Run.
Hundreds of people from all over Austin joined us to journey through the 5K course and pray over the Village at designated stops along the way.
happenings
Community First! Village Summit
A Decade of Mitigating Homelessness Through Hope, Home and Community
Since its opening in 2015, the nationally recognized Community First! Village has proven that it works with nearly 500 formerly homeless neighbors who now call the Village home. Approximately 300 community members attended the Summit. MLF leadership explained how the Village has not only served our neighbors experiencing homelessness, but also how it has positively impacted the great Austin community. Community leaders including Mayor Kirk Watson and Judge Andy Brown examined a decade of data from CFV while noting its ROI impact on Central Texas based on findings from Boston Consulting Group. Updates on the expansion of Community First! Village were also shared with those in attendance.
REPLICATION
Our Model is Sweeping The Country
Over the years, many people across the country and sometimes the world have connected with Mobile Loaves & Fishes to study and implement our Community First! model. There is no playbook to pass along. Instead, we share an invitation to journey with us and other organizations along what we refer to as our “Replication Pathway.” The Replication Team serves external guests — individuals, churches, nonprofit organizations, local government officials — who are exploring replicating the Community First! Model. Of those who have engaged with our Replication Pathway…
Financial Data
We strive to be good stewards of your generous donations. We are intentional in our efforts to keep operating costs low, and this allows MLF to put 82% of all money raised directly into providing services for our Village neighbors and the men and women who are still struggling on the streets of Austin.
functional expenses 2025
| Total Expenses | % of Total Expenses | |
|---|---|---|
| Program Services | $18,817,424 | 82% |
| Fundraising | $2,545,467 | 11% |
| Management & General | $1,576,459 | 7% |
FINANCIAL POSITION 2025
| Total Assets | $265,185,547 |
| Total Liabilities | $60,886,688 |
| Total Net Assets | $204,298,859 |
