Twenty years ago, Alan Graham received what he describes as a call from God to “love your neighbor.” Realizing that none of his neighbors needed more help than those without homes, he decided to devote his life to helping the homeless.

Starting in September of 1998, Alan and some friends embarked on a mission to help the homeless in Austin, Texas. They didn’t only feed them, they also gave them a sense of belonging and made them feel seen like never before.

The group began by delivering meals out of the back of a minivan before they were able to get a pickup truck with a catering bed. This soon morphed into a social outreach ministry called Mobile Loaves & Fishes, which is now the largest prepared feeding program to the homeless in Central Texas. The program is currently made up of over 20,000 volunteers who are out seven nights a week in Austin helping the homeless by giving out food, clothing, and other necessities.

Even after all of this, Alan still wanted to do more for the homeless. He envisioned a community that would serve as a safe haven for homeless people to finally call home. Last year, he was able to make this happen when he started Community First.

Community First is a 51-acre village that serves as a permanent home to people coming off the streets. Not only do residents get their own tiny home and RV, they also get a sense of community that they had been lacking before.

Phase 1 of the village consists of 27 acres and can house up to 200 formerly homeless men and women. Phase II has 24 more acres, and once complete, will allow the entire village to house nearly 500. This is huge because it is about 40% of Austin’s chronically homeless population.

The village has tons of fun and educational activities to participate in, and residents can do things like work in organic gardens, collect fresh eggs from their chickens, and care for goats producing cheese, milk and soap.

The village even holds movie nights at their community cinema, giving residents the chance to enjoy a classic movie together.

On top of that, residents are given the chance to earn an income through gardening, blacksmithing, woodworking, car care, screen printing, art, and concessions.

“What we’ve built together is truly extraordinary. This is a place where lives are being transformed everyday; a place where friends are empowered to cultivate with purpose.” Alan said. “It’s a place where they are loved, where they are known, and where they can settle. Real people who have lived through tremendous suffering are finding life all over again.”

Find out more about this in the video below!