Resident Sherri Taylor plays her organ for Brittany Baron during the Monday morning breakfast gathering at Riverbend Church’s Outpost Monday, April 22, 2019, in Community First! Village in Austin, Texas. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK THE GAZETTE)
Community First! Village in Austin, Texas, gives the homeless a community, not just a roof over their heads. Photos by Christian Murdock
Resident Sherri Taylor plays her organ for Brittany Baron during the Monday morning breakfast gathering at Riverbend Church’s Outpost Monday, April 22, 2019, in Community First! Village in Austin, Texas. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK THE GAZETTE)Resident Sherri Taylor walks back to her home with her organ, sign and Easter hat after the Monday morning breakfast gathering at Riverbend Church’s Outpost Monday, April 22, 2019, in Community First! Village in Austin, Texas. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK THE GAZETTE)Helen Hopkins, right, shows a visitor her tiny home Monday, April 22, 2019, in the Community First! Village. Hopkins has lived in the community just outside the city limits of Austin for two years. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK THE GAZETTE)Resident Ute Dittermer works on a painting in the art studio Monday, April 22, 2019, at the Community First! Village in Austin, Texas. Residents artists can sell their work at the village market and 100 percent of the proceeds come back to them. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK THE GAZETTE)Alan Graham, founder of Community First! Village, sold his upper-scale home in Austin and moved into the community he started with his wife. Graham, pictured Monday, April 22, 2019, outside his tiny home, first started helping the homeless in 1998 by feeding people on the streets of Austin, Texas, with Mobile Loaves & Fishes food trucks. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK THE GAZETTE)Resident Ellis Johnston, center, works in the Community First! Village garden Tuesday, April 23, 2019, with volunteers Erik Schuchmann, left, and Liz Rosa from Ojo Labs in Austin. Johnston, who was homeless for eight years, sleeping on the streets of Austin and under a downtown bridge, is one of the main gardeners in Community First! Village. The produce from the garden and eggs from community’s chickens are free to residents. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK THE GAZETTE)Missional Christine Novak, left, gives resident Tammy Mistrof a hug Tuesday, April 23, 2019, before the Java for Jesus gathering at Community First! Village in Austin, Texas. Novak, who lives in the village, is a nurse at a local hospital. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK THE GAZETTE)Ed Lundin, Community First! Village’s missional chaplain, leads a prayer as missional Christine Novak, left, holds hands with resident Tammy Mistrof Tuesday, April 23, 2019, during Java for Jesus at a tiny home chapel on the Austin, Texas, a community for the formally homeless. Members of the community gather every Tuesday for breakfast burritos and conversation at the chapel. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK THE GAZETTE)Robin Draper, 47, wipes a tear while talking about her life on the streets before Alan Graham, the founder of Mobile Loaves & Fishes and later Community First! Village, saved her from being homeless. Draper is a staff member and lives in the community with her 9-year-old daughter, Avery Keener. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK THE GAZETTE)Robin Draper, 47, shows a wall in her home with memories from her life on the streets Tuesday, April 23, 2019, Draper said she owes her life to Alan Graham, the founder of Mobile Loaves & Fishes and later Community First! Village. Draper is a staff member and lives in the community with her 9-year-old daughter, Avery Keener. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK THE GAZETTE)A picture in Robin Draper’s photo album shows Alan Graham, the founder of Mobile Loaves & Fishes and later Community First! Village, second from left, visiting a homeless camp outside Austin, Texas, years ago when Draper was homeless. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK THE GAZETTE)A goat in the Community First! Village farm reaches through the fence Tuesday, April 23, 2019. The village features a community garden and a farm with goats and chickens. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK THE GAZETTE)Shorty Joe gives Gumby, one of the community’s cats, a hug while relaxing in the community garden Tuesday, April 23, 2019. Joe, who was homeless in the Austin, Texas, area for 31 years, has lived the Community First! Village since November of 2016. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK THE GAZETTE)Streets in the Community First! Village are named with positive messages. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK THE GAZETTE)The 150 tiny homes in the Community First! Village face each other and feature a front porch promoting interaction among residents. The tiny homes share a community bathhouses and kitchens. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK THE GAZETTE)Missional Jessica Mitchell serves Byron Burns a bowl of soup on his first night as a resident of Community First! Village Tuesday, April 23, 2019, during Stone Soup Night at one of the community kitchens. People bring a bowl and contribute a food item to the soup then share dinner and conversations with other residents, staff, interns and missionals. Burns, 45, had been camping in the woods of Austin since 2015. After the meal, he returned to his tiny home for a good night’s sleep. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK THE GAZETTE)Missional Jessica Mitchell gives Avery Keener, 9, a ride on her tricycle after Stone Soup Night in the Community First! Village Tuesday, April 23, 2019. Keener lives in the community with her mother, Robin Draper, who is on staff and was once homeless. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK THE GAZETTE)
