FIRST LOOK: 2 new tiny homes unveiled at Community First! Village

Editor’s Note: The video above shows KXAN News Today’s top headlines for April 6, 2023.

AUSTIN (KXAN) –  Two new tiny homes were unveiled Thursday at the Community First! Village --   a large community that provides affordable, permanent housing to people coming out of chronic homelessness. 

Brohn Homes, a Central Texas home builder company, teamed up with Austin nonprofit Mobile Loaves & Fishes to create the two new homes -- one with a large, roof-covered patio and the other built to be wheelchair-accessible. 

“Building more homes just helps to get more people off the streets. Brohn has committed to continuing that partnership by building more homes for [Community First! Village] throughout each year,”  said Lea Davis, Director of Human Resources at Brohn Homes.”It’s such an amazing commitment and community to be a part of.” 

The Community First! Village is the largest master-planned development aimed at helping people out of homelessness in the U.S. Over the past several years, the project has continued to expand. Soon, there will be 1,900 homes available for Austin’s chronically homeless population. 

To live in the community, a person must be able to pay rent and follow all of the community rules. They’ll accept all chronically homeless people -- or those who've been living unhoused for more than a year -- as long as they are not a convicted sex offender. 

“It's been so empowering for all of our employees to be a part of this build process from start to finish,” Davis said. “We've had about 700 employee hours donated to putting these two homes together."