• Community First! Village opens new onsite health center
• 80 residents now have a place to call home

A short while ago right here in Austin, a very curious, fascinating, and quite magnanimous public act was on full display --- something for all to see and learn from. It was far-removed from 6th Street music or the standard sidewalk-cacophony of millennials enjoying a social outing. Rather, this scene played itself out in a downtown hotel ballroom.

A sea of cameras flashed and captured every movement, seats were filled to capacity, and the setting held an atmosphere of prestige via business leaders and elected officials. And yet it was a very quiet, soft-spoken, solitary man who held every person's undivided attention. This man stood on stage and gratefully accepted his award for 2015 Austinite of the Year. His recognition was not for creating a new technology, opening trade routes to a far off land, nor did he win an athletic prize --- notable accomplishments for sure --- but rather it was his act of giving, a generosity in providing so much to so many, that earned the attention of every member of that crowded room one year ago.

Alan Graham accepts Austinite of the Year at 2016 Chamber Annual Meeting

Alan Graham is a lifelong Texan. He attended The University of Texas at Austin for a few years before embarking on his first entrepreneurial venture. He founded The Lynxs Group, an on-airport air cargo facility developer, and has been creating ever since. It was a moment he'll never forget and one that inspired him to do more when he shared time with a homeless man through his church. After this encounter, Graham decided to take his first round of mobile meals to those in need in downtown Austin. It was during his tenure as president of a real estate development, management, brokerage and investment firm, he chose to serve Austin’s homeless and created Mobile Loaves & Fishes. Since that time, MLF has served over 4 million meals and carries the support of more than 18,000 volunteers. It stands as the largest prepared feeding program to homeless and working poor in Austin.

This includes the Community First! Village, a 27-acre master-planned community in Austin that provides affordable, sustainable housing and a supportive community for the disabled and chronically homeless. Presently 80 residents receive shelter and a living space here. The facility is growing and helping those in desperate need. "We believe we are creating a new movement here in Austin Texas. That movement basically says housing will never solve homelessness, community will, so when the community comes up underneath, like what they are doing with our Community First! Village, here in Austin that is a complete game changer,” said Graham that night one year ago.

Bruce Agness, Founding Member and Chair of Mobile Loaves and Fishes, added, “Alan shares his time and treasure to help our friends on the street to make our city a better place to live for all of us. He leads by example."

Since he received the Austinite of the Year honor, Alan Graham has reached another milestone: this past September he led the way in opening The Topfer Family Health Resource Center. The center is funded through a generous grant from the Topfer Family Foundation and located onsite at Community First! Village. The new facility began treating people suffering from substance abuse, mental disorders, as well as providing primary care, pediatrics, women's health, HIV care, behavioral health services, dental care, nutrition, and clinical pharmacy services. The clinic expects to provide medical care to 250 in 2017 and will serve as ground zero for providing basic healthcare needs to the homeless.

New Topfer Family Resource center will provide onsite care to 250 residents of Community First! Village.

“The impact that this is going to have on men and women that are coming off the streets is beyond huge,” said Graham. David Evans, CEO of Austin Travis County Integral Care continues: “By offering both mental and physical health care services at one on-site facility, we’re able to provide more convenient access to care and create an opportunity for improved mental and physical health for Community First! residents. Rather than seeing it as two separate issues we try to see the whole person and try to get healthy outcomes.”

Austin is a growing and vibrant community. Opportunity and growth seem to be everywhere, all around us, and easily within reach. However, the stark reality is there are those who fall through society's safety net, the cracks in our system, and suffer through loss and depravation. It's people like Alan Graham who lift these people up, help a man stand on his own feet, ease a mother's worry by providing healthcare to her child, and gives hope to countless for a better tomorrow.

The Chamber plans to announce the 2016 Austinite of the Year in the coming weeks--stay tuned!