Community First! Village - Austin, Texas
Community First! Village, situated on 51 acres on the outskirts of Austin, is an innovative and visionary community created to provide permanent housing and a supportive environment for chronically homeless people in Austin. Community First! Village provides housing for 350 residents. When the next phase is completed, the village will offer housing for 500 formerly homeless people.
The village was designed to encourage community interaction by incorporating a front porch into the design of the homes, as well as many shared community spaces. It is mostly privately funded and relies on the support of community organizations, donors, business leaders, and churches, as well as the many generous volunteers who provide this wonderful foundation to help lift people out of homelessness.
“The greatest disease in the West is not contracting leprosy or the result of being strangled by an umbilical cord. It is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. America can cure many physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love.” - Alan Graham, Founder and CEO, Community First! Village.
Michael
I was homeless over twelve years. I was a painting contractor with my own business and had four guys working for me. On April 13, 1998 I was struck by lightning on the patio of my apartment. I got hit in the face. I had third and second degree burns all over my face. I woke up the following morning. According to the neighbors, I couldn’t even talk or stand up. They called an ambulance and I was blacked out. I woke up seven months later in the burn unit.
I lost my business. My crew stole all my equipment. They had the key to my shop and my storage unit where I had all my tools and equipment. I had three trucks and a van. I had about $100,000 worth of equipment. They stole all that and went to Mexico with it. They didn’t know what happened to me.
I didn’t pay anything into social security all those years. I couldn’t afford rent. Two years after we applied here we got in; that was six years ago.
Fred
I’ve been here for two years. Before I moved here I was homeless for about eight years, and it was hard. I was, on the streets of course and dealing with the weather and finding a place to even stay cool or stay warm. That’s the main thing that I focused on was trying to stay warm, dry, and cool, you know.
Before that, I was a crane operator and I had a good life. Some things happened in my life that put me in a position to where I was disabled and I couldn’t work. It all started from there, when I was unable to work, so that was my downfall.
What I like most about this place is that I can live here and I also work here, so I don’t have to go anywhere to get things I need. I work for property beautification, which is like landscaping. I get to work with the volunteers that come here.
I live right over on one of these sides. It’s great. I mean, it’s my own personal place, you know, so I really do like it. It has a full kitchen, restroom, shower...30 it has everything I need.
Kay
I’m a pharmacy technician. I was working as a temp and my contract ended so I wasn’t able to pay my rent. Me and my son and my dog had to go on the street. He was a junior in high school, so I went down and stayed at the metro. The bus system has a transit center where you take certain buses, so we camped in our tent where he could still take his bus to school.
We had been there about a month on the street and the sheriffs came through. They were taking people’s stuff and trashing it. They came to tell me you’re going to have to move your stuff. There was a trooper with them. The trooper looked at me, because you can tell I’m not a drug addict and I don’t drink. He looked at me and he said, “What are you doing here?” I said, “I lost my job and can’t pay rent. I got evicted so we’re here.” He said, “who’s we’re ?” I said “My son lives with me.” He said, “how old?” I said “He’s in high school.”
The state trooper went to Travis High School, making sure that my son got all the things they could do to help him. The trooper introduced me to his boss, who helped navigate getting me in here.
So thanks to the Texas state troopers, I’m sitting here and they helped my child a lot. My child ended up graduating high school. In Austin, in some districts they have a dual-credit program with Austin Community College. As a ninth grader my son started taking college classes through the school. When he graduated from high school, he graduated with his diploma and forty college credits. He got into St. Edward’s University while I was still homeless. So I was still on the street while he was going to college and living in the dorm. It was pretty neat. He’s going to be a video game designer.