Mobile Loaves & Fishes Breaks Ground on Next Phase of Community First! Village

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobile Loaves & Fishes (MLF), the Austin nonprofit widely known for its compassionate service to the area's homeless community, today took a significant step in its ongoing effort to mitigate homelessness in the city with a groundbreaking for Phase II of the organization's innovative Community First! Village.  

The only neighborhood of its kind in the nation, Community First! Village provides affordable, permanent housing and a supportive community for men and women coming out of chronic homelessness. A development of Mobile Loaves & Fishes, this transformative residential program exists to love and serve Austin's neighbors who have been living on the streets, while also empowering the surrounding community into a lifestyle of service with the homeless.

The Phase II groundbreaking ceremony, which was attended by city leaders, influencers and other collaborators, marks the official expansion of Community First! Village. Phase II of the northeast Austin development adds an additional 24 acres, bringing the entire property to 51 total acres. The expansion of Community First! Village also allows for an additional 310 new micro-homes to be built on the property, as well as other amenities including: a 20,000-square-foot healthcare facility; seven outdoor community kitchens; laundry facilities; restrooms and showers; an 8,000-square-foot multi-use building; and two acres of organic gardens.

Once Phase II is complete and Community First! is at full capacity, an estimated 480 formerly homeless individuals will be living in the Village—which represents about 40 percent of Austin's chronically homeless population.

"Mobile Loaves & Fishes is deeply committed to providing a supportive community for the chronically homeless in Central Texas through Community First! Village, which continues to demonstrate a measurable impact on mitigating homelessness in our city," said Alan Graham, founder and chief executive officer of Mobile Loaves & Fishes. "Our groundbreaking today and the entire Community First! movement has been made possible by an unprecedented level of collaboration that's happening across our great city. What an incredible testament to the power of collaboration and all that can be done when a community comes together to help its most vulnerable neighbors."

Senator Kirk Watson presented Mobile Loaves & Fishes with a Texas Senate Proclamation during the groundbreaking event, honoring MLF for 20 years of "Serving Goodness" in the Austin community.

"Mobile Loaves & Fishes has taken the significant community problem of homelessness and addressed it in the most impactful and creative of ways through Community First! Village," said Senator Kirk Watson. "This is a place where hope exists, where community is alive and well, where 'loving your neighbor' is put into action each and every day, and where lives are truly being transformed. The Texas Senate commends Mobile Loaves & Fishes for its 20 years of service in the Austin community, and all who volunteer their time to further the mission of this great organization." 

Mobile Loaves & Fishes' groundbreaking ceremony also marked the launch of the organization's $20 million "Building Hope" capital campaign. MLF invites the entire community to join its movement and help provide micro-homes or support other sponsorship opportunities for Phase II of Community First! Village. For more details on MLF's "Building Hope" capital campaign and how to get involved, please visit: www.mlf.org/capital-campaign

Phase II of Community First! Village is expected to be completed within the next three to four years.

MLF's 20th Birthday Celebration
To commemorate its 20 years of service in the Austin community, Mobile Loaves & Fishes is hosting a city-wide birthday party at Community First! Village. The free special event happens this Saturday, October 20^th, from 4:00-7:00 p.m. and is open to the public. The celebration includes live music, fun activities for the kids, MLF food trailers, tours of Community First! Village and even a family-friendly movie in the outdoor Community Cinema at dusk.

For more details and to RSVP, please visit: www.mlf.org/20th

About Mobile Loaves & Fishes
Mobile Loaves & Fishes (MLF) is a social outreach ministry that has been empowering communities into a lifestyle of service with the homeless since 1998. The organization's innovative Community First! Village is the country's only master planned development designed specifically for men and women coming out of chronic homelessness. Through the support of thousands of volunteers, Mobile Loaves & Fishes food trucks hit the streets of Austin 7 nights a week, 365 days a year to provide food, clothing and other life-sustaining items to our homeless neighbors who are struggling to survive. With more than 5 million meals served, MLF has grown to become the largest prepared feeding program to the homeless in Central Texas and has spawned similar food truck programs in other cities across the country. For more information, visit MLF.org

Media Contacts:
Meg Meo or Emma Beckwith
Elizabeth Christian Public Relations
512-472-9599
[email protected] or [email protected]

SOURCE Mobile Loaves & Fishes

Related Links

http://www.MLF.org