The New York Times’ article Can a Big Village Full of Tiny Homes Ease Homelessness in Austin? discusses the successes of an Austin-based housing community intended to permanently house half of Austin’s chronically homeless.

 

Community First! Village (CFV) houses over 400 people now and is developing sites to support 1,900 formerly homeless people in tiny and mobile homes across three locations. CFV is an excellent example of how Seeds of Hope Silicon Valley would like to address homelessness in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

 

There are a couple key takeaways from this article: 

 

1. Developing affordable housing is not enough for people who are chronically homeless and building a community is critical to ensure individuals feel comfortable in their new environment. According to Alan Graham - the Founder of Community First! Village - units mimicking a neighborhood along with supportive services and easy access to public transportation can help to “replace the ‘profound, catastrophic loss of family” that is believed to be the single greatest cause of homelessness. 
    

2. While Community First! Village started over 10 years ago with self-funding and homeless using their personal government aid to pay rent, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has recently approved the use of federal housing vouchers for the village’s tiny homes.  This decision by HUD is another indicator that the CFV is a viable model.

 

Relevance to Seeds of Hope Silicon Valley:

 

We are committed to building a community where chronically unhoused people in Silicon Valley can live together in a permanent, supportive community where they can live, work, and thrive once again. The Community First! Village is the benchmark upon which we are building our model.

​