day 1 fund

St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore awarded $5 Million Bezos Day 1 Families Fund Grant

In November 2019, St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore was the recipient of a $5 million grant awarded by the Day 1 Families Fund, which will support its continuing efforts to end family homelessness in the Baltimore region. The funds will be used over four years to create new services, increase capacity, and seed new capital investments for supportive and affordable housing for families. St. Vincent de Paul will leverage the award to attract additional resources and address critical service gaps for families experiencing homelessness.

“We feel honored to be in the select group of organizations awarded this funding. This award will be transformative for our organization and allow us to create new projects that are critically needed to end family homelessness in the Baltimore region” said John Schiavone, President & CEO of St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore.

St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore will effectively use this funding to make a lasting, long-term impact to end family homelessness in Baltimore. A significant portion of the funding will be used to pilot a new Coordinated Entry system with two family service hubs that will serve 4,000 families over four years, as well as new Shelter Diversion services for families, to ensure families will have access to shelter and affordable housing. The award will also be used to seed the development of new supportive and affordable permanent housing units.

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 inspiring Mary’s Place in Seattle: no child sleeps outside. For more information, visit www.BezosDayOneFund.org/Day1FamiliesFund.