serving up kindness
Mobile Loaves & Fishes strives to give food, and dignity, to the homeless
Feb 5, 2012 | 11:30 am
Genesis Gardens.
Hunter Flake (Left) and Alan Graham (Right) deliver food to the homeless.
Genesis Gardens.
It started very small and simple: Back in 1998, Alan Graham and a few buddies made some sandwiches and took them to a few homeless people in downtown Austin. But that small act was only the seed for something much bigger. Graham and his group made friends with a homeless man named Houston Flake.
Like Graham, Flake was also born in 1955, only Flake was born to homeless parents and spent most of his life living on the streets. Flake became Graham's guide to the streets, and soon the group was seeking out the homeless under bridges, in camps and in doorways to give them fresh food.
Mobile Loaves & Fishes (MLF) was in operation. Along with Graham and Flake four other founders — Pat Patterson, Bruce Agness, Jack Selman and Mark White — began distributing 75 sack lunches a day to the homeless. By December of 1998 there was enough money to purchase a 1997 Ford F-250 pick-up truck with a catering bed.
April 1999 was the first full month of scheduled operations; there were seven teams each committing to one night per month. In May 1999, the truck was debuted to St. John Neumann Catholic community and over 150 volunteers from the parish signed up to serve. Soon, MLF was doing 15 runs a month in the truck.
MLF has 11 trucks in Austin and five more in San Antonio, Minneapolis, New Bedford, MA and Providence, RI, from which they serve a whopping 33,600 meals per month.
Today, the non-profit is well-known for its commitment to serving the homeless of Austin. MLF has 11 trucks in Austin and five more in San Antonio, Minneapolis, New Bedford, MA and Providence, RI, from which they serve a whopping 33,600 meals per month.
"After attending a retreat at my Catholic Church, I knew God was calling me to do something with my entrepreneurial skills," Graham says. "I finally figured out what I could do while having coffee with a friend and hearing about a ministry in Texas that fed the homeless. The idea came to me of using a catering truck to distribute food from neighborhoods where there was plenty and take it to those where there wasn’t much."
Graham says that Houston Flake became the guiding inspiration for what Mobile Loaves & Fishes is today. "We really did not know what we were doing in terms of actually going out onto the streets to serve," Graham says. "Houston became our eyes and ears." Sadly, Flake passed away in 2002 from bladder cancer.
Graham is also well-known personally as a tireless advocate for the homeless, and the many misconceptions about them. "Homelessness is not a moral or spiritual deficiency in an individual," he insists. "There are a number of reasons why a person may become homeless and I believe the greatest cause of homelessness in the US is the profound loss of family—that safety net we all need."
Other reasons people become homeless include inadequate education and learning disabilities, adolescent rebellion, mental illness, the inherent problems with limited and substandard affordable housing, not enough jobs and, of course, addiction.
"I believe the most common misconception about homeless people is that they want to be homeless and they deserve to be homeless. In today’s society and economy, the chance of any of us becoming homeless is very real."
While the organization's number one goal is to “transform the way people view the stereotype of those who find themselves homeless," Graham says that as a society, we have been taught to shun what we don't understand or can't relate to.
MLF reports many success stories in their work with the homeless. Some find housing, some find jobs, some are reunited with their families after many years of silence.
Jim is one of these success stories. He had a good job, a family and seemed to have attained the American dream. After his parents passed away and his wife succumbed to cancer, he found that it was harder and harder to meet his responsibilities, and Jim ended up on the streets.
"After being on the street for seven years, Jim found a new life when he was accepted into our Community First! Program," Graham reports. Community First! is an MLF program that helps transition homeless people into permanent housing. "Today, [Jim] has a safe, comfortable home in one of our RVs. He made the tough decision to take his social security early but now he can afford the rent and utilities for his new home. Jim has made friends, enjoys cooking, and challenging himself to be as independent as possible."
But Graham adds that Jim has never forgotten his friends on the street. "He regularly invites his best friend to join him for a home-cooked meal and to share a night or two away from the horrors of living on the street. Jim’s greatest pleasure today is to wake up in the morning in his own bed and to thank God to be alive."
As for Graham himself, he says that transformation has been both the biggest challenge, and biggest reward, from his 15 years running MLF. While the organization's number one goal is to “transform the way people view the stereotype of those who find themselves homeless," Graham says that as a society, we have been taught to shun what we don't understand or can't relate to.
But on the positive side, his own personal transformation and witnessing the transformation of others has brought some of his greatest joy. "We have learned to appreciate our brothers and sisters on the streets as children of God just like the rest of us. Because we are a community-based organization, it is very easy to become friends with our homeless neighbors and to see the impact that MLF has on the people we serve and all our supporters."
Graham says that while we cannot fix the reasons a person becomes homeless, we can help to change the minds and hearts of society and policy makers.
"We are working to shift the worldview of the homeless so that they are seen as people with talents, ability to love their neighbors, to show compassion for others, and that they deserve to be treated with dignity."
You can learn more about Mobile Loaves & Fishes on their website or by calling (512) 328-7299. Their programs include:
- Community First!—a unique outreach program effectively confronting homelessness by lifting chronically homeless men and women up off the streets providing supportive, affordable and sustainable housing based in a loving and hospitable environment with amenities to improve quality of life. Each resident must pay rent (very affordable for those on SSI or SSDI) and utilities.
- Genesis Gardens—utilizes sustainable agriculture to support, equip and empower our brothers and sisters in need. Read more about Genesis Gardens in a prior Culture Map story.
- Literacy Impacts the Future Today (LIFT)—an educational outreach ministry focused on combating the impact of homelessness resulting from low reading skills
- CleanSlate—helps to provide the pathway to self-sustainability for the chronically homeless through hope and encouragement to become a productive citizen in the community again through employment
- HealthFirst!—addresses primary healthcare needs of the residents of Community First! while, simultaneously, elucidating and addressing the root causes of their medical problems
- New Life Institute—a non-profit counseling and training organization, dedicated to changing lives by providing professional services to those in emotional or spiritual need regardless of ability to pay
- Ellory’s Hugs for Humanity—provides and distributes warm, lightweight, waterproof, sleep sacs with pillows to protect, provide comfort and show compassion for our community’s homeless population
- Rework Project—a city-wide community response that is about work itself and rethinking work for those experiencing homelessness. Rework Project has workshop and retail spaces, offers job search support and new business and job creation support.
