On Dec. 1, the Emergency Family Assistance Association announced it had received a $5 million grant through the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund to “help end homelessness for families in Boulder.”
EFAA currently provides more than 60 housing units for families experiencing homelessness, as well as rental assistance to help keep families housed. Organization leaders said they plan to use the grant “to serve even more families experiencing homelessness in Boulder County, with the goal of ensuring no child in our community sleeps outside.” During the five-year grant, EFAA expects to double its capacity to shelter families, supporting over 300 families on a path toward long-term housing stability.
EFAA’s annual budget is a little over $10 million, and over the next five years, this grant will make up about 9% of the organization’s budget.
A new program launched by the grant, EFAA Pathways, will expand EFAA’s existing housing programs for families experiencing homelessness. Those include emergency housing, typically one- to two-week hotel stays, as well as short-term housing consisting of four months of free housing in an EFAA unit. Transitional housing lasts up to 11 months in an EFAA unit and involves some form of payment and a lease. Housing support also includes wraparound services like resource navigation, financial coaching and family-strengthening programming.
EFAA Pathways will also add new short- and medium-term rent subsidies and allow EFAA to “individualize a pathway for each family based on their needs,” according to Kristi Venditti, EFAA’s director of programs.
The program will be collaborative with the city and county, which help refer families to EFAA, along with nonprofit partners like the Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence, Our Center and Sister Carmen.
EFAA representatives say that the funding is an important opportunity to strengthen Boulder’s safety net and provide a model for nonprofits nationally on how to address and prevent homelessness. At the same time, its scope is specific to families experiencing homelessness or in the process of rehoming. It doesn’t fund direct financial assistance to help prevent homelessness, or other EFAA programs for families in crisis, like the food bank or financial assistance to pay utilities.
Debbie Pope, the group’s executive director, is encouraging people to continue to support EFAA and other local nonprofits, saying that while the grant is an important opportunity, it doesn’t negate existing gaps in the safety net. These include reductions in SNAP eligibility, high housing costs, likely reductions in medical insurance coverage for those on Medicaid, county cuts to nonprofits, and ongoing uncertainty around federal funding.
“We still are collectively trying to figure out some of these really big challenges related to other areas of the safety net that have been so impacted by federal funding being pulled,” Pope said. “It’s so important for the community to still be supporting our organizations and our agencies.”
Of 32 grant recipients, EFAA was the only Colorado nonprofit to receive the grant this year, and the first Colorado recipient since the Denver Salvation Army in 2022. EFAA representatives said this was their first time hearing from the Day 1 Families Fund, whose grants are invitation-only.
The Bezos Day 1 Families Fund was established by billionaires Jeff Bezos and his ex-wife MacKenzie Scott, and is now led in part by Bezos’ wife, Lauren Sanchez Bezos. This year, the organization gave $102 million to 32 organizations fighting homelessness across 20 states, and has committed to giving away $2 billion in the long term.
According to the Forbes real-time list of global billionaires, as of Dec. 1, Jeff Bezos was the fourth-wealthiest person in the world, with a net worth of $245 billion.
I’m sure many in our community will appreciate the Bezos generosity! We need to make heroes of these people who have a lot of money and are willing to help others who are in need!
Bezos is not generous, Doreen. This is a minute proportion of what he has taken in return for depressing the entire US and international economy. Let’s be honest!
Yep. He could end world hunger if he was actually generous. It’s amazing how much EFAA will be able to accomplish, though, with that small amount.
In reply, I see what you’re saying, but as a disabled senior who lives alone, Amazon has made a tremendous difference in my being able to get things I need, including groceries, so I personally feel it has been a blessing for me. They don’t have to give anything, as we know of others in the same situation who don’t give at all. My situation may not be unique.