Case Studies
Case Studies
The Bezos Day 1 Families Fund annual leadership awards recipients do compassionate, needle-moving work to help families experiencing homelessness regain safe, stable housing and achieve well-being.

A selection of more than half of the Day 1 Families Fund grantees who received funding between 2018 through 2021 report they have used their grants funds to date to:

• Divert more than 28,000 families from experiencing homelessness
• Connect more than 30,000 unsheltered families with safe shelter
• Connect more than 75,000 families to services they need

Below, find stories of how individual Day 1 Families Fund grantee organizations have made an impact with these uniquely flexible funds.
  • Catholic Community Services of Western Washington – Tacoma, WA
    2018 grantee ($5 million), 2023 grantee ($5 million)
    CCSWW took a multi-pronged approach to leveraging its first Day 1 Families Fund grant, including opening a drop-in day center for families and forging partnerships with organizations across the community to improve equitable access to housing and services for all families facing a housing crisis. This work has helped divert about 450 local families from homelessness.

    Read the full story

    Learn more about Catholic Community Services of Western Washington on their website.
  • Crossroads Rhode Island – Providence, RI
    2018 grantee ($5 million), 2023 grantee ($5 million)
    Crossroads Rhode Island used its first Day 1 Families Fund grant to invest in a range of interventions—from offering emergency assistance to divert families from homelessness to bringing on board a housing navigator to help families in need identify safe and affordable housing. “We know our model and these resources can get us to functional zero with family homelessness,” says Karen Santilli, CEO of Crossroads Rhode Island.

    Read the full story.

    Learn more about Crossroads Rhode Island on their website.
  • HOPE Services Hawaii – Hilo, HI
    2019 grantee ($2.75 million)
    HOPE Services Hawaii received its Day 1 Families Fund grant a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and the funds helped the organization serve as a critical lifeline to families during the crisis, including by helping connect families to pandemic relief funds and launching a master leasing program for families. Their work is making a lasting impact: 90 percent of people connected with housing by HOPE Services Hawaii remain housed at least two years later.

    Read the full story.

    Learn more about HOPE Services Hawaii on their website.
  • MAHUBE-OTWA – Detroit Lakes, MN
    2020 grantee ($2.5 million)
    The Day 1 Families Fund grant unlocked a previously unobtainable level of staff capacity that helped MAHUBE-OTWA expand and solve issues specific to the very rural area it serves. Three years after receiving the grant, the team has connected more than 1,500 families with needed services, and some counties it serves are down to the single digits of people experiencing homelessness.

    Read the full story.

    Learn more about MAHUBE-OTWA on their website.
  • The Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte – Charlotte, NC
    2018 grantee ($5 million), 2023 grantee ($3.75 million)
    As a leader in addressing rising homelessness in Charlotte, The Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte used its first Day 1 Families Fund grant to “say ‘yes’ to more families who were in crisis and keep whole families—including dads and teenaged sons—together,” according to Deronda Metz, the organization’s director of social services. The grant helped The Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte launch programs for both children and adults to improve their wellbeing and expand its diversion efforts, which has helped 275 families stay out of homelessness.

    Read the full story.

    Learn more about The Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte on their website.