Welcome to the most talked about neighborhood in Austin, Texas!
Community First! Village is a master planned neighborhood that provides affordable, permanent housing and a supportive community for men and women who are coming out of chronic homelessness. A development of Mobile Loaves & Fishes, this transformative residential program exists to love and serve our neighbors who have been living on the streets, while also empowering the surrounding community into a lifestyle of service with the homeless.
Welcome to the most talked about neighborhood in Austin, Texas!
Community First! Village is a master planned neighborhood that provides affordable, permanent housing and a supportive community–a forged family–for men and women coming out of homelessness. A development of Mobile Loaves & Fishes, this transformative residential program exists to love and serve our neighbors who have been living on the streets, while also empowering the surrounding community into a lifestyle of service with the homeless.
Today, Community First! Village occupies land on Hog Eye Road and Burleson Road in Travis County. It is currently home to more than 420 formerly homeless neighbors, and will provide housing and community for 1900 of our friends who once struggled to survive on the streets of Austin, and other neighbors to support them, when complete.
Shared Spaces Create Connections
The Village has been intentionally designed to encourage community. Each home has a front porch, and homes are clustered around common areas with laundry rooms, restroom and shower facilities, outdoor community kitchens and green space. These shared areas encourage interactions among neighbors, helping them form relationships and build community.
Several other buildings and spaces located throughout the property give neighbors plenty of space to gather for conversation, activities, services and meals.
Some features of Community First! Village include:
- Capital Metro Bus Stop
- Community Cinema & Amphitheater
- Community Market
- Community Table outdoor dining area
- Community Works Entrepreneur HUB
- Dog Park
- Genesis Gardens organic farm
- King Park
- Hope Chapel
- Living Room community center
- Memorial Garden
- Health Clinic
- Unity Hall
Neighborhoods of Knowingness
Creating “Community within Communities”
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, allowing neighbors to connect more regularly in a shared area of the neighborhood. This approach allows neighbors to connect more regularly in a shared area of the neighborhood.
“I firmly believe that Neighborhoods of Knowingness is an architectural game changer that will enable us to effectively scale this one-of-a-kind community, the likes of which has never been seen before in our city or elsewhere around the country.”
– ALAN GRAHAM
Neighborhoods of Knowingness (2025)
Experiencing Homelessness?
community first! village in the news
“The Lord God took the man and settled him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and take care of it.”
– GENESIS 2:15
Our Neighbors’ Journeys
Meet Honey
It became home to me because I was finally in the right place, at the right time, doing the right things.
Tuana
I can go into my house, close my door and sleep peacefully. I don't have to worry about anything!
Mississippi
Before she passed, my mom knew that I was safe and no longer living on the streets.
