Chronic Homelessness Is About Family Trauma, Not Housing

Alan Graham has been on the frontlines tackling homelessness for 25 years. As the CEO and founder of Mobile Loaves & Fishes, a social outreach ministry, Alan has been instrumental in developing innovative solutions, building genuine relationships with the homeless community, and providing sustainable, permanent support for men and women coming out of chronic homelessness.

Alan’s journey began in 1998 when he, along with four friends, started delivering meals to homeless men and women from the back of a green minivan. This initial effort has since expanded significantly, with 20 trucks operating in multiple cities and over 6 million meals served so far. In recent years, Alan has taken his ministry to the next level with the Community First Village in Austin, Texas. Rather than the traditional shelter model, this project is an enclave of tiny homes and RVs, designed to create a real community for its residents, or as Alan likes to say, his neighbors. Alan and his wife Tricia have since moved into the community themselves, alongside over 350 formerly homeless neighbors.

This interview contains adult themes and may not be suitable for younger viewers.

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Mobile Loves & Fishes: https://mlf.org
Community First Village: https://mlf.org/community-first/
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Outline:
[0:00] Intro
[1:23] What is Community First?
[13:14] Alan’s chaotic childhood
[25:56] Helping intellectually disabled people changed his life
[31:19] Surviving booms and busts in business
[40:31] How Alan came back to faith and the Church
[50:19] Founding Mobile Loaves & Fishes
[1:01:14] Build relationships with the people you serve
[1:09:13] Our culture breaks families in different ways
[1:22:22] Community First builds homes, not houses
[1:29:33] Navigating the civil liberties of homeless people
[1:36:17] How does Community First work?
[1:44:19] Who lives at Community First?
[1:49:12] Changing the public perception of homeless people
[1:54:46] Lightning round Q&A

Dad Saves America is a channel dedicated to celebrating heroic fatherhood while teaching the next generation of fathers strategies they can utilize in parenting their children. We believe strong children come from a strong family. We’ve had many experts in the studio, including Jonathan Haidt, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Troy Kotsur, John Mackey, Ben Askren, and Adam Carolla.

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