• Alex
  April 27, 2022, 11:38 am

  To stay here…
  https://communityinn.mlf.org/austin-tx-vacation-rental/tiny-home-ruby/#

  To see their other tiny house vacation rentals…
  https://communityinn.mlf.org/austin_vacation_rental/tiny-home/

  To donate to their village and cause…
  https://give.mlf.org/give/298641

  Thanks!

  Reply Link
• Marsha Cowan
  April 27, 2022, 7:51 pm

  Quick question. . .why is this house being rented out for profit rather than being utilized as a home for a family so that they can find “hope and healing from the ravages of the streets”? Just curious. . .

  Reply Link
  • James D.
    April 27, 2022, 8:57 pm

    They’re a non-profit, so it’s not for profit… In their words you can find the answer in two parts, one is…

    “Through the design of our Community Inn, and in our daily operations, we strive to provide a carefully curated experience. Our hope is that every guest leaves with a newfound desire to know and serve the homeless in their local communities. Our Community Inn units feature art and other handcrafted products made by our formerly homeless artisans and makers who live in Community First! Village.”

    And the other is…

    “Community First! Village is a 51-acre master planned community that provides affordable, permanent housing and a supportive community for men and women coming out of chronic homelessness. A development of Mobile Loaves & Fishes, this transformative residential program exists to love and serve our neighbors who have been living on the streets, while also empowering the surrounding community into a lifestyle of service with the homeless.”

    So it’s part of how they make it work, like providing those who live in the village with jobs, keeping the housing affordable for them, and how they are actually providing to those in need by giving them a way to change their life and be self sufficient…

    Reply Link
    • Marsha Cowan
      April 27, 2022, 10:41 pm

      Thank you, James.

      Reply Link
• Maria Kentala
  April 28, 2022, 6:23 am

  This house is a Jay Shafer home. He built these along time ago. They are a good size.

  Reply Link
  • James D.
    April 28, 2022, 3:12 pm

    No, Ruby was built by a Santa Cruz woman, Kendall Ronzano who began building at age 16 in her Westside backyard. She donated it for use for housing the homeless…

    Jay Shafer wasn’t involved…

    Reply Link
• Linda Tracy
  April 28, 2022, 7:35 pm

  My niece would love this as she is a big Wizard of Oz fan. Me I love it for everything!!!

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• Stephan of Arkansas
  April 28, 2022, 11:21 pm

  This sounds like a lovely, happy, much-needed development. Please study the photos carefully. I see that this THOW and its neighbors are placed on a long poured concrete pad and are set very close together as part of a “51 acre master plan”. A few trees in the background, but not a single tree between each unit or in front of them or perhaps in front of every two or three of them. All that poured concrete. One wonders if that might possibly create a summer time heat trap? I suspect that the residents of those Texas THOW’s will have their A/C’s running 24/7 many months of the year. Young people wax philosophical about saving the planet. Yet here is this charming little complex with few trees. Take a look, and let’s see the full design. This reminds me of local developers here in n.w. Arkansas that build/sell largish houses on concrete foundations placed so close together that the owners will be lucky to be able to plant a bamboo clump between the houses. I am not a landscape architect, but I am a gardener of many decades that loves trees and green space. Now at age 72 and presumably in the last years of my life, before I give up the ghost I must warn all of you that trees and landscaping MUST be part of the page one development objectives whether of a THOW community or a larger fixed-foundation housing development. It is inadequate to have tiny little ruffs of trees scattered about that are only an afterthought. Perhaps someone will write to reassure me that there are “plenty of trees” in this 51 acre master planned community. I hope I am mistaken. Might someone put the master plan on line clearly showing the green space allocation? Or tell us the on-line site where the master plan can be viewed. These comments are respectfully submitted. Stephan of Arkansas

  Reply Link
  • James D.
    April 29, 2022, 2:14 pm

    This area is a parking lot so it definitely lacks trees but the above isn’t indicate of the whole community, like it doesn’t show the farm and community gardens, etc.

    So check out their video “Finding Home: Community First! Village” that shows what the whole area looks like and what they’re doing with it…

    Mind, it’s still a new development and it can take years to get everything really developed. Like even when they plant trees it can take years for them to grow big, etc. and they have to be self sufficient so what they do has to fit their budget… Much of the community is set up to give residents jobs either providing services are selling things they make but that also sets the budget for the community.

    Texas is also dealing with Oak Wilt, which is Killing Texas Trees in Epidemic Proportions. So there’s also the issue of being able to treat and protect, especially young and vulnerable, trees and needs to be something the residents can handle as they’re the one’s doing most of that work.

    And there’s a number of other tree epidemics running around the country right now that’s making it harder to have trees in high numbers and density…

    Reply Link
• Maria Kentala
  April 29, 2022, 6:31 am

  James I know Jay did not build this home. But she did use his house plans for it.

  Reply Link
  • James D.
    April 29, 2022, 1:06 pm

    No, you said “He built these along time ago.”… You didn’t give the actual builder any credit and she deserves a lot of the credit here… The name is even in memory of her Grandmother, Dorothy… It took over 800 hours of her time, which she chose to not apply toward high school community service requirements at the time. So a lot of heart, care, and compassion went into this and how and why it ended up where it did…

    Reply Link

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