For more than 10 years, we have partnered with you to lift our neighbors off the streets and into community and home in Community First! Village. During this time, you have consistently demonstrated that you know what it means to love your neighbor. Because of you, our Village neighbors have what they need to extend that same kind of love and care to each other.
We recently developed a Neighbor Leader program at Community First! Village, and I’d like you to meet three of these leaders—Kim, DeLori and Shea. Our Neighbor Leaders are community connectors, who help to engage other neighbors in community events and help ensure that all neighbors have access to community resources.
Housing alone will never solve homelessness, but community will.
Over the past several years, I’ve traveled across the country and to many places around the world—but honestly, there is no place like home. No place that makes me feel as comfortable, secure or stable as being in my own home. It is my refuge. If you are like me, I’m confident you feel the same way—your home is the best place in the world!
Because of you, Community First! Village has become that kind of comfortable, stable and secure home for nearly 500 men and women who were once suffering on the streets of Austin. Because of you, our most vulnerable neighbors now have a permanent home where they can settle, put down roots, recover and heal. Because of you, they now have a supportive community that encourages them to better care for themselves as well as those around them.
“We are here to love them as they are, and it doesn’t matter where they’ve been or the mistakes they’ve made. They deserve to be loved.“
KIM, Community First! Village Neighbor Leader
Because of your loyal and compassionate support, our neighbors like Kim, DeLori and Shea are equipped to share goodness—your goodness—with the rest of their community.
Connecting human to human and heart to heart is vital to building strong relationships and a healthy community. Our neighbor leaders are uniquely qualified to assist their Village neighbors because they have been there. They know how it feels to sleep on the street, to be hungry, alone and afraid. They also understand what it means to finally have a permanent home in a safe and caring community, and that the goodness of this community can take some getting used to.
ALAN GRAHAM
“We understand. We’ve totally been there. We are here to welcome our neighbors home and let them know that we’re here to help.”
DELORI, Community First! Village Neighbor Leader
