Bezos Day One Fund awards $110.5 million for homeless families
The Bezos Day One Fund, a $2 billion philanthropic fund launched in 2018, has announced grants totaling $110.5 million in support of nonprofits working to help families experiencing homeless.
The seventh annual Day 1 Family Fund leadership awards will provide flexible funding to 40 organizations working to assist families experiencing homelessness regain safe, stable housing, and achieve well-being across 23 states. This year, six organizations were awarded their second investments from the fund. To date, the Day 1 Families Fund has issued 248 awards totaling nearly $750 million to organizations in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
“The flexibility of the Day 1 Families Fund grant helped us expand our capacity to minimize shelter time for families, which is so important for children,” said Ellen Magnis, CEO of Family Gateway, which was awarded $2.5 million. “We’ve more than quadrupled the number of families we serve—from 400 families per year before the grant to 1,800 families served last year.”
“With homelessness on the rise, there has never been a more important time to support those individuals and organizations making a difference,” said Lauren Sánchez. “Every family deserves a home, and we’re thankful to be able to play a part in working toward making that a reality.”