INDIANAPOLIS — The Coalition for Homelessness Intervention & Prevention announced Wednesday it received a $1.25 million grant from Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos' Day 1 Families Fund.
The Indianapolis organization is one of 42 nonprofits nationwide that focus on helping families experiencing homelessness find shelter to receive a grant from the fund.
CHIP executive director Chelsea Haring-Cozzi said the grant comes at a time when Central Indiana families are facing difficulties created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"As families face job loss, income loss and housing loss, we must have systems and resources in place to respond quickly. We must focus on the whole family and families of all types,” Haring-Cozzi said in a news release.
The grant will help provide resources so CHIP can increase its work to help families escape homelessness and ensure stability for Indianapolis residents, especially Black and brown families who experience homelessness at higher rates, the release said.
CHIP will work with domestic violence partners, family shelters, child services and community centers to support solutions to homelessness.
“The Day 1 Families Fund will provide the catalytic funding needed to divert more families from homelessness, and to support permanent housing solutions for families," Haring-Cozzi said.
The Day 1 Families Fund issued a total of $105.9 million in grants in 2020. The fund worked with an advisory board of homelessness advocates and leaders to select recipients.
