Austin’s Community First! Village Adds Hundreds of Microhomes, Shapes Homeless Solutions

Mobile Loaves & Fishes is scaling Community First! Village on Austin’s outskirts with an expansion that calls for 1,400 new microhomes on 127 acres and a broader buildout the nonprofit says will total 1,900 homes across 178 acres. The move follows land acquisitions off Hog Eye Road and Burleson Road and adds concrete capacity to a community that already provides housing for more than 220 formerly homeless men and women.

Community First! Village first took root in East Travis County in 2015 on a 51-acre tract, where tiny homes and RVs were clustered to create a support-focused neighborhood. Founder and CEO Alan Graham spoke to the project’s arc: “Here we are, 10 years later, moving men and women who are experiencing chronic homelessness ... into permanent homes in a supportive community,” and he added, “And I will tell you that when we began this journey, people couldn't believe that it could coalesce and come together.”

The expansion timeline is specific: Mobile Loaves & Fishes announced the ambitious expansion in 2021 after acquiring the Hog Eye Road and Burleson Road parcels, and the organization broke ground on the Hog Eye Road expansion in 2022. At a Feb 17 celebration, organizers showed off a handful of new tiny homes that range from 200 to 400 square feet, signaling the kind of units residents can expect as buildout continues.

Architectural work on the Hog Eye Road phase includes six custom microhome plans by Mark Odom Studio, with stated sizes from 144 to 200 square feet. The studio named three layouts aimed at more extroverted inhabitants, The Alcove House, The Bungalow, and El Camino a Casa, and three designed for more introverted residents, The Delight House, The Birdwatcher, and The Happy Hideaway. Mark Odom said, “It was an incredible experience and honor to develop the new microhomes for Community First! Village. We drew inspiration from the creative and distinctive tiny home designs introduced in Phase I and II of the Village by several talented local firms. We wanted to capture the same diversity in form and function while designing homes that could be efficiently constructed, easily replicated, and delivered on time and within budget.” Mark Odom Studio also states that once complete, this phase will total 600 homes.

Mobile Loaves & Fishes manages construction in a mixed model: Graham noted the organization builds about half of the microhomes itself while “the other half are typically contributed by the homebuilding community, including other nonprofits such as HomeAid Austin.” The nonprofit has also set short-term targets, saying plans to build as many as 500 additional tiny homes over the next five years are on track.

The Village’s focus on shared facilities and social connection underpins its mission. A local advocate known as Powers highlighted the design logic: “Tiny homes also create the unique opportunity for us to have shared facilities and community spaces, inviting neighbors to interact with each other and build relationships amongst each other, staff and volunteers.” Austin Mayor Kirk Watson framed the outcome in civic terms, saying the village exemplified a sense of community and “belonging” for people transitioning out of homelessness. The project’s scale and replicated microhome models have already inspired similar efforts in Midland and Little Rock, Arkansas, positioning Community First! Village as a tangible prototype for housing-first tiny house solutions.