Jeff Bezos is providing aid to various organizations fighting to alleviate homelessness this year with over $117 million worth of contributions.
The donations, made through the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund established by the billionaire Amazon founder just a handful of years ago, collectively amount to $117.55 million, the Bezos Day One Fund announced Tuesday. The fund is sending them to 38 organizations.
“A huge thank you to the recipients of the sixth annual Bezos Day 1 Families Fund grants – $117.55 million to 38 groups doing phenomenal work to transform the lives of families experiencing homelessness,” Bezos, whom Forbes valued at $166.6 billion, wrote on Instagram.
The Bezos Day 1 Families Funds has distributed grants for five back-to-back years prior to Tuesday’s announced donations.
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The recipients for 2023 were located in 23 states, DC and Puerto Rico. Groups such as American Indian Community Development Corporation in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami, Inc, in Miami, Florida; Community of Hope, Inc in Washington, DC; Family Promise of Cheyenne in Cheyenne, Wyoming; Hogar Ruth para Mujeres Maltratadas, Inc in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico; Ka Mana O Na Helu in Pearl City, Hawaii; and the Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte in Charlotte North Carolina are some of those getting the awards.
The sizes of the respective grants span $150,000 to $5 million, according to the Bezos Day One Fund.
Last year’s round of grants, worth over $123 million combined, were sent to 40 organizations.
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With the Day 1 Families Fund donations, the Bezos Day One Fund said Tuesday it aimed to help the organizations “continue their compassionate, needle-moving work to help families move from unsheltered homelessness and shelters to permanent housing with the services they require to achieve stability.”
In December, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said the number of homeless individuals on a given night in January 2022 totalled over 582,400.
Roughly $639.1 million has been disbursed through over 200 Day 1 Families Fund grants in its six years, according to the Bezos Day One Fund.
“It’s a privilege to support these orgs in their inspiring mission to help families regain stability,” Bezos also said on Instagram.
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The Day 1 Families Fund is one of the two funds that Bezos’ $2 billion Day One Fund operates. The other, the Day 1 Academies Fund, focuses on preschools for children living in low-income areas, according to the Bezos Day One Fund.
The Bezos Academy has already set up a slew of preschools in several states, with more to come in the future, per its website.