Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Vanity Fair.
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos have donated $11.25 million to fight homelessness in the Washington, DC, area through their Bezos Day 1 Fund, which earlier today announced the recipients of its annual leadership awards to “organizations doing compassionate, needle-moving work to help families experiencing homelessness.”
In our region, Community Crisis Services, Friendship Place, Harford Family House, and Lifestyles of Maryland each received a share of a larger $102.5 million fund allocated to this year’s cohort of organizations nationwide.
“This gift is for the thousands of families who sleep on our streets each night, enduring the cold with nowhere to turn,” Sandy Washington, CEO of LifeStyles of Maryland—awarded $2.5 million—said in a press release. “This donation is a testament to the devotion that has carried us through late nights, tears, countless volunteer hours, community partnerships, and unwavering service.” LifeStyles of Maryland supports families in Southern Maryland, and plans to use the grant to help families move out of crisis and find pathways to sustainable housing.
But can $11.25 million make a dent in the region’s struggle with homelessness?
“God, I hope so. The housing affordability issue is enormous. The DMV is a very expensive area to live in,” said Timothy R. Jansen, CEO of Community Crisis Services, which was awarded $5 million, the largest grant made by the Bezos Day 1 Fund to a DMV charity this year, and the largest in the organization’s history. “We work one household at a time, but, yeah, I think it can make a good dent. It’s not going to solve it, although I wish it could, but it’s going to make some significant differences.” For context, Jansen told us the organization typically has an operating budget of around $14 million, and “We tend to spend pretty close to the margin.”
Over a five-year period, CCSI will use the extra funds to expand its focus on “housing individuals that have physical or intellectual disabilities, and the households that don’t fit the norm and the cookie-cutter that programs often look for. More and more, we have multigenerational families trying to live together to support one another. Typical housing programs don’t always support those folks,” says Jansen.
In Washington, at the start of the year, the District’s Department of Human Services (DHS) conducted a census of individuals experiencing homelessness. The “Point-In-Time” count showed an 18.1 percent decrease in homelessness among families. The $2.5 million donation to Friendship Place, a DC organization dedicated to comprehensive support for the homeless community through housing, employment, and other essential services, will hopefully help maintain the positive trajectory.
“The Day 1 Families Fund will continue to strengthen our work to help families rebuild their lives with dignity and ensure more children in our community can grow up safe and housed,” Jean-Michel Giraud, the CEO of Friendship Place, said in a press release. This is the charity’s second donation from the Bezos Day 1 Fund; they received the same amount in 2020 while fighting the homelessness crisis during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Harford Family House, the largest shelter in Harford County, Maryland, received $1.25 million. “This funding could not have come at a better time,” Robin Tomechko, CEO of Harford Family House, said in a press release. They plan to use the grant to support an additional 16 families in need of emergency shelter over five years, and to develop partnerships with Harford County Public Schools to identify families in precarious housing situations for further assistance.
