Photo by Johnathon Kelso

ATLANTA–St. Vincent de Paul Georgia received a $5 million donation in its effort to move families into safe housing.  

The Bezos Day 1 Families Fund, a nonprofit started by the founder of Amazon, awarded the grant. This investment is the largest financial gift in the Georgia nonprofit’s 122-year history.  

The grant affirms the agency’s mission and “will greatly expand our capacity to walk alongside families in crisis, moving them to stable housing and helping to build pathways to long-term stability,” said Mike Mies in a statement. Mies is the executive director of SVdP Georgia. “We are counting on this award to be a catalyst for other individuals and organizations to join us in prioritizing assistance to families who are sleeping outside, in cars and places not meant for human habitation.” 

SVdP Georgia plans to use this one-time grant over the next five years to work one-on-one with unhoused families. The nonprofit will use wraparound services including life skills support and counseling to address barriers on a case-by-case basis to promote housing stability and long-term self-reliance.   

SVdP Georgia is part of the eighth annual cohort of organizations across the country receiving funding from the Day 1 Families Fund, started by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos, to help families experiencing homelessness. Some 32 organizations across the U.S. received $102.5 million from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund to connect families with housing. 

A group of national leading advocates with expertise on homelessness, housing policy selected SVdP Georgia for the award.  

Since 2018, Day 1 Families Fund has awarded 280 grants worth more than $850 million to organizations serving families in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. The Day 1 Families Fund grant recipients have tremendous flexibility to use the funds in the ways that are most impactful in their communities.