Simpson Housing Services, the 35-year-old nonprofit that shelters the homeless and works with them on permanent housing and financial stability, has received its largest private donation ever, as part of a $97.5 million national housing initiative by billionaire Jeff Bezos.
The Amazon founder donated $2.5 million to Simpson to expand its family-housing program.
Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos announced a donation of $97.5 million to 24 nonprofits in late November, that was made at the same time Bezos was being criticized for negotiating large public subsidies to locate regional headquarters for Amazon in New York and the Washington D.C. area.
The CEO of Simpson Housing, which works with hundreds of families annually on a $7.3 million budget, said it was grateful for the Bezos philanthropy.
"This support from the [Bezos] Day One Families Fund will increase our capacity to end homelessness for more families and deepen our impact with each family by increasing the reach of our education support programming, which targets the end of generational homelessness," said Executive Director Steve Horsfield.
Simpson Housing this year will work with 300-plus families, including 650 children who are homeless during at least part of the year. Simpson Housing is one of the nonprofits delivering services and coordinating the move of dozens of people from the homeless encampment along Hiawatha Avenue,
Simpson focuses on long-term housing stability, individualized case management, and connecting families to resources and services such as employment, healthcare, and educational support for children, including tutoring and mentoring through staff and volunteers.
Bezos, considered America's wealthiest capitalist, announced in September that he's dedicating half of his new $2 billion Bezos Day One Fund to create schools nationwide for children under 5 years old, as well as housing in low-income neighborhoods.
