Mobile Loaves & Fishes may break ground on project in August

By Joe Olivieri

In mid-July, Austin's homeless shelters housed 1,453 people, including 153 children, according to data from the Austin-based nonprofit Ending Community Homelessness Coalition.

"Right now we don't have enough of anything," ECHO Executive Director Ann Howard said. "We don't have enough room at shelters, and we do not have enough housing and support systems. We [as a community] are trying to build affordable housing as fast as we can."

One nonprofit's effort to address the demand is Community First. Local group Mobile Loaves & Fishes has finished the first phase of fundraising to build the 27-acre master-planned affordable housing development in East Austin to address homelessness.

Last November, city of Austin voters approved $65 million in bond money for affordable housing developments.

Advocates hope some of the bond funding can be used toward Housing First programs in which the chronically homeless are housed first and other challenges, such as addictions or financial trouble, are addressed second.

Local advocacy groups see addressing homelessness as a moral imperative and a cost savings to the community.

It is more cost-effective to prevent homelessness, said Robert Kingham, a manager with the city's Health and Human Services Department. He added that the homeless are at greater risk of requiring expensive emergency care or entering the criminal justice system.

"The homelessness issue that we face is not just what we see downtown or on the street corner," he said. "It is a far-reaching issue that impacts more often than not a number we can't even calculate. There are many faces of homelessness, and [homelessness] takes many forms. It requires a multifaceted approach to solve this problem."

Resources

In fiscal year 2013–14, the city of Austin has allocated $5.5 million for contracts with nonprofit agencies to help the homeless or targeted populations, Kingham said. These agencies include Caritas, Casa Marianella and Foundation Communities.

Local organization Front Steps runs the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless, or ARCH. Resources at ARCH include needs assessment, workforce development, a computer room and laundry. ARCH serves as a men's shelter at night. The Salvation Army runs the Austin Shelter for Women and Children.

On any given night, the Housing Authority of the City of Austin provides housing to more than 7,000 families, or more than 19,000 people, HACA Executive Vice President Sylvia Blanco said. That includes public housing, Housing Choice Voucher—formerly Section 8—and grant programs.

"Without the [public] housing or voucher rental assistance provided by these programs, many of these families would be at risk of becoming homeless," she said. "Many were in fact homeless before entering the program."

Mobile Loaves runs a micro-enterprise program to help homeless people earn a modest income. Participants can create art or sell ice cream to make money.

Homeless people can also distribute or write for street newspaper the Challenger.

"We create self-employed jobs for people that don't qualify for typical jobs," Challenger Director and Executive Editor Valerie Romness said. Most of the paper's coverage serves as "a view from the inside" of homelessness, she said.

Bonds and Housing First

The 2013 Affordable Housing Bond "will allow the city to borrow $65 million to partner with organizations to utilize these funds for affordable rental and ownership housing as well as the preservation of existing affordable housing," according to the city.

In 2006 voters approved $55 million for affordable housing, which resulted in 2,409 units, according to the city.

On March 20, City Council approved a motion directing the city manager to develop a Housing First permanent supportive housing project in Austin.

Community First

Best known for its food distribution program, Mobile Loaves has raised $6.5 million of the estimated $10 million–$11 million cost of Community First. The nonprofit hopes to break ground on the utilities and site work in August, Community Relations Director Nate Schlueter said. The community will include cottages, microhomes—dwellings smaller than 500 square feet—and recreational vehicles among its home options.

Residents may live in Community First as long as they like, he said.

Once builders break ground, construction on the first phase of the development may take nine to 10 months, he estimated.