LifeMoves Receives $5 Million Bezos Day 1 Families Fund Grant to Help End Homelessness for Families in Silicon Valley
Day 1 Families Fund grants $96.2 million to 32 nonprofits across the country to provide shelter for children and families in need
MENLO PARK, Calif. – (November 17, 2021): LifeMoves, a community-based organization that provides supportive, interim housing and intensive, customized case management to its neighbors experiencing homelessness, today announced that it has been selected to receive a $5 million grant from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund. Launched in 2018 by Amazon founder and executive chair 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.
“A grant of $5 million, and the opportunity for transformative impact on the lives of many more Silicon Valley families experiencing homelessness, marks a new day in the 40-year history of LifeMoves. What an incredible honor for LifeMoves to be chosen by the Day 1 Families Fund,” said Aubrey Merriman, Chief Executive Officer of LifeMoves.
This one-time grant will allow LifeMoves to serve more families and build upon its capacity to provide high-quality behavioral health and children’s educational programming—service components that LifeMoves considers vital for the families it serves. LifeMoves was selected as a Day 1 Families Fund grant recipient by an independent advisory board comprised of homelessness experts with experience in policy, advocacy, racial equity, child welfare and housing and service delivery, as well as firsthand experience in homelessness.
This year, the Day 1 Families Fund issued a total of $96.2 million in grants to 32 organizations across the country. The 2021 Day 1 Families Fund grant recipients are: ACLAMO; Adopt-A-Family of the Palm Beaches; Alabama Rural Coalition for the Homeless, Inc.; All Chicago Making Homelessness History; AACI (Asian Americans for Community Involvement); Building Changes and Africatown International; Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa; Colorado Coalition for the Homeless; Covenant House Alaska; Destination: Home; Doorways; Family Life Center; Family Service League; Friends of the Family; Homeless Action Network of Detroit; Homeward; LifeMoves; Lubbock Open Door; Mesilla Valley Community of Hope; Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter & Services; Mississippi United to End Homelessness; Newcap, Inc.; Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance (OCAPICA); Portland Homeless Family Solutions; Project Community Connections, Inc.; Rural Alaska Community Action Program (RurAL CAP); Sacramento Steps Forward; SHELTER, Inc.; Texas Homeless Network; The Link; Tri- County Community Action Agency, Inc.; and Union Station Homeless Services.
“LifeMoves changed my history. When I arrived, my baby was just 40 days old. Now, she’s older, I have childcare, I have a job and I see the light at the end of the tunnel. It gave me back my dignity, being at LifeMoves. Anything I needed, they provided — my own space, help finding a new home, support for my daughter. It’s hard raising a child by yourself, but my case manager and therapist helped me so much. I feel like I’ve already won because the sky is my limit right now,” said Debora, single mother of a young toddler.
The Bezos Day One Fund made a $2 billion commitment to focus on making meaningful and lasting impacts in two areas: funding existing non-profits that help families experiencing homelessness, and creating a network of new, non-profit 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. Since 2018, the Day 1 Families Fund has issued 130 grants totaling more than $398 million to organizations around the country working to combat homelessness and help families gain housing support and stability. The vision statement comes from the inspiring Mary’s Place in Seattle: no child sleeps outside. For more information, visit www.BezosDayOneFund.org/Day1FamiliesFund.
About LifeMoves
LifeMoves is the largest and most innovative non-profit organization committed to ending the cycle of homelessness for families and individuals in Silicon Valley. Our mission, since 1987, has been to provide interim housing and supportive services for homeless families and individuals to rapidly return to stable housing and achieve long-term self-sufficiency.
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