SALEM, Ore. – (Nov. 21, 2023): Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency (MWVCAA), a leading nonprofit aiding Marion and Polk County residents experiencing poverty and homelessness, today announced that it has received a $5 million grant from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund—the largest private gift in the organization’s history. This is the sixth round of annual Day 1 Families Fund grants, which recognize leading organizations doing compassionate, needle-moving work to help families experiencing homelessness secure housing and achieve stability.
“On behalf of our Board, staff, and dedicated community partners, we are deeply honored by our selection as a grant recipient by the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund,” said Jimmy Jones, executive director of MWVCAA. “For the past seven years, our housing work has focused on supportive housing models that quickly and permanently end homelessness in our community. Everyone deserves a roof over their head, and a warm, dry, safe place to call home. This grant will help MWVCAA in its continued efforts to support families experiencing homelessness. These needs for our families have never been greater, as Oregon has struggled to provide affordable housing and keep rent burdens low for working families. No one should have to raise their children in unsheltered conditions, and this grant by the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund will position MWVCAA to end unsheltered family homelessness in our region.”
This one-time, uniquely flexible grant will support MWVCAA in serving as a critical lifeline to children and adults in families experiencing homelessness, who represent more than a quarter of the homeless population nationally. MWVCAA plans to use its Day 1 Families Fund grant to rapidly end homelessness for families experiencing homelessness in Marion and Polk Counties. This will be accomplished through a series of interventions: opening a family center for the provision of basic needs (meals, showers, laundry); quickly navigating families into shelter where they will receive wraparound services integrated with existing systems of care; and placing families into permanent housing—a true home of their own. With intensive case management and housing navigation, MWVCAA will implement a true continuum of services delivery designed to meet the diverse needs of the community.
“It is with great enthusiasm that MWVCAA begins its work with Day 1 Families Fund”, said Ashley Hamilton, chief program officer at MWVCAA. “This opportunity promotes the creation of a person-centered approach, while also supporting the use of innovative solutions to end unsheltered homelessness of families in our community. These funds, unbound by the typical rigidity of traditional funding streams, will allow us to adequately respond to the unique and varied needs of Marion and Polk Counties, truly helping us design and implement a program that our community needs.”
MWVCAA was selected as a Day 1 Families Fund grant recipient by a group of national advisors who are leading advocates and experts on homelessness and service provision. National advisors brought expertise on housing justice, advancing racial equity and helping programs employ resources effectively to assist families out of homelessness.
Over the past six years, the Day 1 Families Fund has provided 208 grants totaling more than $630 million to organizations around the country working on the frontlines to identify unsheltered families, help families regain housing and connect families experiencing homelessness to vital services. A selection of more than half of the Day 1 Families Fund grantees who received funding between 2018 through 2021 report that, to date, they have used their grants to divert more than 28,000 families from experiencing homelessness, connect more than 30,000 unsheltered families with safe shelter and help more than 75,000 families access the services they need.
This year, the Fund issued a total of $117.55 million in grants to 38 organizations. The Day 1 Families Fund has now granted this award to organizations in 48 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. New states this year include Arkansas, Vermont and Wyoming. The full list of awardees is available at bezosdayonefund.org/day1familiesfund.
Launched in 2018, the Bezos Day One Fund made a $2 billion commitment to focus on making meaningful and lasting impacts in two areas: funding existing nonprofits that help families experiencing homelessness, and creating a network of new, nonprofit tier-one preschools in low-income communities. The Bezos Day 1 Families Fund issues annual leadership awards to organizations and civic groups doing compassionate, needle-moving work to help families experiencing homelessness—including those who are unsheltered or staying in shelters—regain safe, stable housing and achieve well-being. The vision statement comes from the inspiring Mary’s Place in Seattle: no child sleeps outside. For more information, visit www.BezosDayOneFund.org/Day1FamiliesFund.
