MDHI Receives $1.25 Million Bezos Day 1 Grant to End Homelessness
DENVER – (December 9, 2020): The Metro Denver Homeless Initiative (MDHI), the region’s Continuum of Care tasked with coordinating a regional response to homelessness, today announced that it has been selected to receive a $1.25 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.
“This funding is critical in the region’s response to keeping families safe and stable, particularly in light of the economic crisis caused by COVID-19,” said Matt Meyer, Executive Director of MDHI.
This one-time grant, awarded to organizations doing meaningful work to connect families with shelter and support, will allow MDHI to increase housing for families experiencing homelessness and provide additional services and supports. Additionally, this funding will support a full-time position dedicated to recruiting and retaining landlords for the region’s various housing programs. This is a much-needed resource as federal housing funds begin to flow into the Denver region.
MDHI 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; 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; Time for Change Foundation; United American Indian Involvement, Inc.; and WestCare California.
“We can immediately put these funds to use, meeting identified needs in our community for families experiencing homelessness, needs that other funding sources can’t meet,” added Meyer. “We are incredibly grateful to the Day 1 Families Fund for their support.”
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, click here.
About Metro Denver Homeless Initiative
Metro Denver Homeless Initiative (MDHI) is the Metro Denver Continuum of Care, the regional system that coordinates services and housing for people experiencing homelessness. This includes prevention/diversion, street outreach, emergency shelter, transitional housing, rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing. MDHI works closely with each county in its continuum (Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson) to build a homeless crisis response system that gets people back into housing as quickly as possible.