The Regional Task Force on Homelessness receives $5 M Bezos Day 1 Families Fund grant

SAN DIEGO – The Regional Task Force on Homelessness, the lead agency for the San Diego region’s Continuum of Care, announced Tuesday, Nov. 22, that it received a $5 million grant from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund – the largest private gift in the organization’s history.

Launched in 2018 by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the Day 1 Families Fund issues annual leadership awards to leading organizations on the frontlines that are employing compassionate, needle-moving work to help families move from unsheltered homelessness and shelters to permanent housing with the services they require to achieve stability.

“We are excited to receive this grant from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund,” Tamera Kohler, CEO of Regional Task Force on Homelessness, said. “Families in San Diego are experiencing homelessness at a higher rate than we have seen before. Targeting these resources, we will strive to reduce these numbers and shorten the time any family is without a place to call home. This targeted, coordinated effort will leverage all available resources to make homelessness in our region rare, brief and one-time. We also recognize families of color experience homelessness at higher rates and are homeless longer. These funds will also be targeted to address this and improve the lives of families struggling with homelessness across our region.”

RTFH recently released the Regional Community Action Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness in San Diego that identifies ending family homelessness as one of the five “People Goals.” The plan adopts a regional vision to end homelessness in San Diego using a housing-focused, equity-driven and person-centered approach. Families and providers shared during listening sessions that families are facing more barriers than ever before, specifically securing units in a tight rental market. Data supports it as more families are entering into homelessness for the first time and staying longer in shelters. RTFH will utilize the grant funds to establish and expand efforts to address and end family homelessness with a sense of urgency and to focus on expanding and securing units, as ending homelessness begins with a home.

RTFH was selected as a Bezos Day 1 Families Fund grant recipient by a group of national advisers who are leading advocates and experts on homelessness and service provision. National advisers brought expertise on housing justice, advancing racial equity and helping programs employ resources effectively to assist families out of homelessness.

Over the past five years, the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund has provided 170 grants totaling more than $520 million to organizations around the country working to combat homelessness and help families gain housing support and stability. This year, the fund issued a total of $123.45 million in grants.

The Bezos Day 1 Family 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 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 http://www.BezosDayOneFund.org/Day1FamiliesFund.

Submitted by the Regional Task Force on Homelessness.