November 26, 2019 – Santa Monica Daily Press – Guest Author
St. Joseph Center, a leading provider of services for families and indi-viduals experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles, announced Thursday that it has been selected to receive a $5 million grant from the Day 1 Families Fund.
“The trauma of homelessness is incredibly harmful to families,” said Dr. Va Lecia Adams Kel-lum, president & CEO of St. Joseph Center. “Support from the Day 1 Families Fund will have a profound impact on our ability to protect families and help them regain stability.”
This one-time grant, awarded to organizations moving the needle on family homelessness, will allow St. Joseph Center to establish a hub for families experiencing homelessness that will combine critically needed bridge housing (which families use before transitioning to perma-nent housing) with holistic, integrated programs designed to help families return to self-sufficiency as quickly as possible.
St. Joseph Center is one of 32 nonprofits across the U.S. to receive the second annual Day 1 Families Fund grants, as part of a broad investment by the Day 1 Families Fund to help solve family homelessness. The Day 1 Families Fund issued a total of $98.5 million in grants this year. The fund worked with an advisory board of homelessness advocates and experts who identified and invited organizations to submit grant proposals to support their efforts to address homelessness. This year, the grant recipients from around the country include: Bethany House Services, Catholic Charities Eastern Washington, Catholic Social Services Alaska, Coburn Place, Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, Covenant House, Family Gateway, Family Aid Boston, ForKids, Goodwill Industries of Northern Michigan, Great Lakes Community Action Partnership, Homeless Services Network of Central Florida, HOPE Services Hawaii, Hope-Works, Interim Community Development Association, Lafayette Transitional Housing Center, Mary’s Place Seattle, MIFA, Our Family Services, Pathways of Hope, St. Joseph Center, St. Joseph’s Villa, St. Stephen’s Human Services, St. Vincent de Paul, The Road Home, The Road Home Dane County, The Whole Child, UNITY Of Greater New Orleans, Upward Bound House, Welcome House of Northern Kentucky, West Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness, and YWCA Columbus.
Inga-Rochelle Jones knows firsthand the difference St. Joseph Center makes in people’s lives. “I became homeless with three of my five children in April 2017. I had been homeless before, but never with my children,” she recalled recently. “St. Joseph Center helped my children and me when we had no other help or human aid.” With assistance from the Center’s family programs, Inga-Rochelle regained stability and got on the path to self-sufficiency. “I have now been in housing for a year and have increased my income. I am tremendously grateful to St. Joseph Center.”
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 the inspiring Mary’s Place in Seattle: no child sleeps outside. For more information, visit www.BezosDayOneFund.org/Day1FamiliesFund.
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