🏠 HousingLocal/Regional

Mobile Loaves and Fishes (Community First! Village)

Operates Community First! Village, a 51-acre master-planned community in Austin providing permanent housing, micro-enterprises, and supportive community for the chronically homeless.

More than 420 formerly homeless neighbors now call Community First! Village home — a 51-acre neighborhood where residents earned about $1 million in 2025 through on-site enterprises and more.

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What Mobile Loaves and Fishes does

Mobile Loaves & Fishes is an Austin, Texas, nonprofit founded in 1998 by Alan Graham. It runs a prepared-meal program for people who are homeless or working poor, which it describes as the largest in Austin. Its best-known project is Community First! Village, a 51-acre neighborhood that opened in 2015 in the Austin area for men and women coming out of chronic homelessness.

More than 420 formerly homeless people now live in the village. Residents can earn income through Community Works, a set of on-site enterprises that includes an organic farm, a market, an art house, and a cinema and amphitheater. MLF says residents earned about $1 million in 2025 through this work and other opportunities. The organization treats relationships and community as central to ending homelessness, alongside the housing itself. A capital campaign is funding expansion. MLF plans for the village to eventually house about 1,900 people, and Community Impact reported plans for nearly 2,000 microhomes across its properties.

MLF is much larger than most local housing charities, with about $28 million in expenses in 2024. It holds a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.

Key facts

  • Community First! Village covers 51 acres in Travis County, and MLF plans for it to eventually house about 1,900 residents (mlf.org/community-first)
  • 440 formerly homeless neighbors live at the village, according to the homepage; the Community First! page says 'more than 420' (mlf.org)
  • The village opened in 2015 and marked 10 years in October 2025 (Community Impact)
  • Residents earned about $1 million in 2025 through on-site Community Works enterprises and other opportunities (mlf.org/community-first)

Before you give

  • Monthly giving goes through the 'Everyday Angels' program. MLF also accepts stock, donor-advised fund grants, planned and endowment gifts, and honor or memorial gifts. Gifts can be designated to specific programs.
  • Checks go to Mobile Loaves & Fishes, Inc., P.O. Box 224451, Dallas, TX 75222-4451 (a Dallas P.O. box, even though MLF is based in Austin).

Common questions

Is Mobile Loaves and Fishes a legitimate charity?

Tax status: US 501(c)(3) — donations are tax-deductible for US taxpayers. It files with the IRS under EIN 74-2956081, and its annual returns are public on ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer. Independent ratings — Charity Navigator: 4 of 4 stars. As with any charity, check its latest filings before a large gift.

Are donations to Mobile Loaves and Fishes tax-deductible?

US 501(c)(3) — donations are tax-deductible for US taxpayers.

Where does Mobile Loaves and Fishes work?

Mobile Loaves and Fishes works in Austin, Texas. It is based in Austin, Texas.

How do I donate to Mobile Loaves and Fishes?

Use the Donate button on this page — it goes straight to Mobile Loaves and Fishes's own donation page on give.mlf.org. randomcharity.com doesn't process payments, doesn't see your card details and takes no cut.

Sources

  1. mlf.org/
  2. mlf.org/community-first/
  3. mlf.org/ways-to-give/
  4. give.mlf.org/give/138838
  5. communityimpact.com/austin/north-central-austin/development/2025/10/22/communit
  6. projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/742956081
  7. charitynavigator.org/ein/742956081

Profile researched and last reviewed September 2026. Ratings and figures change — the linked evaluator pages always show the current version.

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