Connection
Community First Village Designing supportive housing for the chronically homeless Sarah Satterlee, AIA Satterlee is the staff architect at Community First Village. She has lived in Community First Village for two and a half years and has firsthand experience with the benefits and challenges of the intimate community.
Outside of Austin, a uniquely resilient community has formed to make a lasting impact in the lives of formerly homeless individuals. The Christian organization, Mobile Loaves & Fishes, started by placing chronically homeless individuals in permanent housing across the city. The resources provided to these individuals went beyond financial needs. Mobile Loaves & Fishes provided counseling, connected individuals with the health care they needed, advised on signing leases, discussed spiritual needs, assisted with nutrition, etc. These efforts were very successful! This success prompted Mobile Loaves & Fishes to consider how they could expand their services and provide housing to more people. In 2014, Mobile Loaves & Fishes broke ground on a plot of land outside of Austin to build a new community from scratch. They built a dense community of tiny houses, with shared restrooms and kitchens. The tiny houses were made available through their application process. The formerly homeless individuals placed in these homes pay rent with funds they can earn through work opportunities onsite or through their own employment. Mobile Loaves & Fishes works with each individual so they feel ownership and inclusion in the community. To qualify as chronically homeless, a person must have experienced homelessness for at least one year and currently struggle with a disabling condition. The disabling condition may be one or several of the following: serious mental illness, substance abuse, or a physical disability. In February, the representatives of the Young Architects Forum and the National Associates Committee met in Austin. We toured the Community First Village and saw the way individuals
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Beau Frail, AIA, NCARB Frail founded his own firm, Activate Architecture in Austin. His practice provides design services and leads community engagement for projects aiming to make a positive impact.
have thrived. The original village of tiny homes has expanded with a section of RVs and more tiny homes. The village has also broken ground on a second phase which adds 24 acres to the original 27 acre community. Phase II will add 310 homes that are either pre-fabricated, custom built by contractors donating their labor, or built by volunteers during day-long intensive builds. The village includes shared facilities for worship, commercial kitchens, gardens, mechanics shop, craft studio, and other facilities that allow community members to work and earn an income. Several missionals from the Mobile Loaves & Fishes community have elected to live among the formerly homeless and personally connect with the community members. Visitors are welcome to tour the facility and pay for car maintenance, local art, or concessions during outdoor movies. This interview of two architects captures the thoughts and process behind some of the unique designs that are implemented at Community First Village.
Katie Kangas (KK): How did you initially become involved with the Community First Village (CFV)? Sarah Satterlee (SS): I was interested in public interest design. I was connected with Community First Village through Our Community Corps, a service-learning apprenticeship program. It was a position to live and work in CFV for a few months. At the end of volunteering, they offered me a job. I started in property management, and I learned the ins and outs of how to operate a place like CFV. When CFV moved into Phase II of the site plan and building process, they realized they needed an architect to manage the consecutive construction projects.
