AUSTIN, Texas - The Downtown Austin Alliance has made its fourth $200,000 donation to Mobile Loaves & Fishes for the Community First! Village.
The donation is part of the Downtown Alliance's 10-year, $2 million grant to the organization.
Community First! Village is a master-planned development in northeast Austin that provides affordable, permanent housing and a supportive community for chronically homeless men and women. The fourth $200,000 installment is dedicated to expanding Phases II, III and IV at Community First! Village.
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Phase II features an additional 24 acres, more than 300 homes and other community amenities like additional outdoor kitchens and community gardens.
Upon completion of all four phases, the community will be able to house approximately 1500 additional residents, says the Downtown Alliance. Phase I of the Village currently covers 27 acres, features 130 micro-homes, 100 RV/park homes, and has more than 200 residents.
RELATED: Community First Village gets grant to expand
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Community First Village
It opened last year and since then, dozens of homeless have gotten off the streets to live there. Now, they've just gotten more funding.
“We are proud to continue our support of Community First! Village as they care and serve those in our community who need our support the most—our neighbors and fellow Austinites experiencing homelessness,” Dewitt Peart, president and chief executive of the Downtown Austin Alliance, said in a release. “Community First! Village has demonstrated again and again that they have been successful in their ongoing mission. Through expansion, their impact will become even greater and the Downtown Alliance will continue to support them every step of the way.”
RELATED: Get a second chance at Community First! Village
When announced in July 2017, the grant was not only the largest in the history of the Downtown Austin Alliance, but also the largest ever for Mobile Loaves & Fishes, which operates Community First! Village.
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Community First Village
The Community First Village in East Austin is a place for the chronically homeless to get off the streets and have a place to call their own.
“We're excited to share that neighbors have started to move into Phase II and are enjoying their beautiful new homes,” Mobile Loaves and Fishes president Amber Fogarty said. “We are thankful to the Downtown Austin Alliance for their continued support, and we sincerely hope that the community will join in supporting Mobile Loaves & Fishes’ mission of providing a permanent home to our chronically homeless neighbors.”
RELATED: John Paul DeJoria gifts $1.6 million to 'Community First! Village'
In addition, the Community Works Entrepreneur Hub in Phase II opened in September, says the Downtown Alliance. Neighbors are creating fine art, jewelry, ceramics, pottery and other microenterprise products in this new space.
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Community First Village
An Austin philanthropist with a rags to riches success story is putting some serious money toward helping Austin's homeless.
The Downtown Alliance says that Mobile Loaves & Fishes has navigated the complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic and has been successful in keeping the virus at bay because the Village is built for social distancing.
To learn more about the Community First! Village, click here.
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