Community First, A Home for the Homeless, is a documentary about Community First! Village which is a unique residential development that is transforming the lives of homeless people through the power of community. As explained by the founder Alan Graham, “It is specifically designed to lift the chronically homeless off the streets of the Austin area offering them a place to call home, helping them to heal from the ravages of life on the streets allowing them to rediscover a purpose in their lives.”

Alan continues, “What we believe is a new movement, a new understanding as to how valuable community is. An understanding that says that housing will never solve homelessness but community will. It’s an understanding that we have to move from the transactional side of thinking that we can solve these giant human problems to a relational side that says it takes relationships, you and I, one-on-one, human-to-human, heart-to-heart, in order to really begin to move that needle.”

Here in Washington State, the Community Build Project (CBP), an all volunteer organization based in Jefferson County, is creating temporary emergency shelter villages to house those who are housing-insecure. Over the past year, CBP has built 22 tiny shelters, 12 of which are currently occupied in a temporary emergency village in Port Hadlock, WA. CBP volunteers have been truly inspired by the film Community First!, and are now considering expanding to assist in establishing a similar permanent village for the unsheltered citizens in our community. Watch the film; be inspired; volunteer for CBP. You can learn more at https://community-build.org/.

Joining us after the film will be Judy Alexander, Community Engagement for Community Build Project; Debbi Steele, Volunteer Coordinator for Community Build Project; and Carla Main, Volunteer with Jefferson County’s Housing Solutions Network.

Join our online screening via Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/96698666643