Phoenix’s UMOM homeless shelter receives $5M gift from Bezos fund
Nov 21, 2018, 5:55 PM | Updated: Nov 22, 2018, 12:50 pm
(Facebook Photo/UMOM New Day Centers)
PHOENIX – UMOM New Day Centers, a Phoenix shelter that provides services to homeless families, received a transformative gift just in time for the holiday season: $5 million.
The Bezos Day One Fund, which was established this year by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, announced the award Tuesday.
The donation to UMOM was part of $97.5 million distributed by the fund to 24 nonprofit organizations across the U.S. working to support families in need.
“We hope these grants provide the additional resources these leaders and their organizations need to expand the scope and impact of their efforts,” Bezos said in the announcement.
According to the UMOM website, more than 200 families live on the streets or sleep in their cars every night in the Phoenix area, and it takes an average of 11 weeks for a shelter unit to become available to those seeking help.
“This grant means capacity,” UMOM CEO Darlene Newsom said in a post about the gift. “It means we can add new shelter units that will serve 100 additional families every year.
“Our goal: We will zero out that waiting list so not one more family suffers.”