The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation donated $36.6 million toward a housing project in Austin, Texas, in November 2021. The donation was intended to help finance the construction of 1,400 more houses to be built to accommodate people who had previously experienced homelessness.
The foundation says the initiative was established in 2015 by Mobile Loaves & Fishes to address the loss of family and social networks. Housing was not just seen as a solution in itself but rather as a neighborhood in which residents would develop relationships and engage in community activities.
A neighborhood for connecting
The Community First! Village is situated in East Austin and contains different types of small houses, including recreational vehicles, tiny houses, and 3D-printed houses. These are placed in a manner that facilitates connections between residents. There are outdoor kitchens and dining areas to facilitate eating together, and laundry areas that serve as places where people meet during their daily routines. Other facilities within the initiative include an organic farm, a chapel, parks and green spaces, a cinema, an amphitheater, and a convenience store.
The organization says residents have access to an on-site medical center and transportation services. As part of a program called Community Works, which is carried out in the village, the residents can gain new skills and earn money. The program provides residents with opportunities to rebuild social ties.
According to Mobile Loaves & Fishes’ description, the village is a master-planned community of affordable and permanent homes for those exiting homelessness. According to the capital campaign, the units were planned to be clustered into neighborhoods of 40 to 50 homes, each with common outdoor kitchens, laundries, and restroom and shower facilities.
Expansion in two additional sites
Mobile Loaves & Fishes says the development includes two additional sites that were planned to provide space for another 1,400 homes and add 127 acres to the existing village. Work on the infrastructure of this expansion started in 2023. Once developed, the Community First! Village was expected to include 1,900 homes and support buildings on 178 acres of land.
Announced on Giving Tuesday in November 2021, the foundation’s $36.6 million donation was intended to support the construction of 1,400 homes for people leaving chronic homelessness in Central Texas. The cost of expansion was estimated at $225 million. However, the charity appealed to the entire community to contribute toward matching the foundation’s donation.
The Dell Foundation also states that Travis County allocated $35 million of its American Rescue Plan Act funds for the Burleson Road expansion in September 2021, two months before the foundation’s donation announcement. The county allocation and the foundation’s contribution were separate parts of the project’s funding efforts.
According to the Dell Foundation, the village is meant to provide permanent housing for almost half of Austin’s chronically homeless population. The foundation’s website lists almost 400 people living in the village, while Mobile Loaves & Fishes reports more than 470 formerly homeless residents.
The foundation says the Austin initiative has drawn interest from other organizations. It also trains other groups that want to adopt the program. It points to developments in Midland, Texas, and Little Rock, Arkansas, that have been inspired by the Community First! Village initiative. However, the Austin expansion remains tied to the nonprofit’s broader goal of providing permanent housing within a community structure that encourages residents to support one another.