$2.5 Million Bezos Day 1 Families Fund Grant to End Family Homelesness Received
The Salvation Army Receives $2.5 Million Bezos Day 1 Families Fund Grant to End Family Homelessness
AUSTIN, Texas – (December 9, 2020): The Salvation Army Austin, the largest provider of emergency shelter in Central Texas, announced that it has been selected to receive a $2.5 million grant from the Day 1 Families Fund. Launched in 2018 by Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, the Day 1 Families Fund issues annual leadership awards to organizations and civic groups doing compassionate, needle-moving work to provide shelter and hunger support to address the immediate needs of young families.
“We are honored to be one of the recipients of this year’s Day 1 Families Fund grants,” said Major Lewis Reckline, Austin Area Commander. “This grant will help us to support the growing needs of vulnerable families with children in Travis and Williamson Counties.”
This one-time grant, awarded to organizations moving the needle on family homelessness, will enable the Salvation Army Austin to expand and bolster its existing services, including the addition of shelter staff, an increase in financial and housing assistance to clients moving into safe housing and an improvement in shelter capacity to serve more families. The Salvation Army operates three low-barrier, housing-focused shelters in Austin offering services such as case management, rental and utility assistance, therapy and childcare, resulting in 80% of case-managed households transitioning from homelessness to housing last year.
The Salvation Army is one of 42 nonprofits across the U.S. to receive the third annual Day 1 Families Fund grants, as part of a continuing commitment by the Day 1 Families Fund to help end homelessness for families. The Day 1 Families Fund issued a total of $105.9 million in grants this year. To select these organizations, the fund worked with an advisory board of homelessness advocates and leaders whose expertise spans housing justice, racial equity, direct services, homelessness policy, equity for Native American communities and anti-poverty work. This year, the grant recipients from around the country include: Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness; The Cathedral Center, Inc.; Catholic Charities of Acadiana; Coalition for Homelessness Intervention & Prevention; Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida; Community Action Council for Lexington-Fayette, Bourbon, Harrison and Nicholas Counties, Inc.; Congreso de Latinos Unidos; Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio; Denver Indian Family Resource Center; East Los Angeles Women’s Center; East Oakland Community Project; Facing Forward to End Homelessness; Families Together; Family Life Center; Friendship Place; HELP of Southern Nevada; The Homeless Families Foundation; Homeless Outreach Program Integrated Care System; HOPE Atlanta; House of Ruth; Housing Matters; Housing Up; Kahumana; MAHUBE-OTWA Community Action Partnership, Inc.; Metro Denver Homeless Initiative; MUST Ministries; The National Center for Children and Families; Native American Youth and Family Center; North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness; One80 Place; Poverello House; Rainbow Services; Refugee Women’s Alliance; Safe Haven Family Shelter; Samaritan House; Solid Ground; St. Vincent de Paul CARES; Su Casa – Ending Domestic Violence; The Salvation Army Austin Area Command;
About the Time for Change Foundation; United American Indian Involvement, Inc.; and WestCare California
The Bezos Day One Fund was launched in 2018 with a commitment of $2 billion and a focus on two areas: funding existing nonprofits that help homeless families, and creating a network of new, nonprofit tier-one preschools in low-income communities. The Day 1 Families Fund issues annual leadership awards to organizations and civic groups doing compassionate, needle-moving work to provide shelter and hunger support to address the immediate needs of young families. The vision statement comes from the inspiring Mary’s Place in Seattle: no child sleeps outside. For more information, visit www.BezosDayOneFund.org/Day1FamiliesFund.
About the Salvation Army
The Salvation Army has been supporting those in need for more than 131 years in the Austin area. The Salvation Army is Central Texas’ largest provider of emergency shelter. We manage The Austin Shelter for Women and Children, The Rathgeber Center for Families, The Downtown Shelter and Social Services Center and The Williamson County Service Center. In 2019, we served more than 2,900 men, women and children, and provided over 118,000 bed nights. Locally, thousands of people receive assistance from the Salvation Army each year through services that include providing relief for disaster victims, rehabilitation for the addicted, clothing and shelter to those experiencing homelessness, and case management to help people move from crisis to stability. For more information, go to SalvationArmyAustin.org.