Montclair-Based Nonprofit Gets $425K Grant From Jeff Bezos’ Fund

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Family Promise of Essex County recently received a $425,000 grant from Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez through the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund.

According to the Montclair-based nonprofit, which works to uplift families facing homelessness, the grant is the largest it has ever received.

Executive director Tia Aery said the funds will be used to help more families move from homelessness to stable housing.

The nonprofit plans to use its funds to “substantially augment” its existing Rapid Rehousing program to exit families from shelter to permanent housing. The nonprofit will also dedicate a portion of the funding to serve more families in its Temporary Shelter program, which keeps families of all sizes together while in shelter.

“With homelessness and particularly family homelessness on the rise in Essex County, this grant comes at a critical time,” Aery said.

Family homelessness in the U.S. rose dramatically from 2022 to 2023, and families now represent more than 28 percent of the country’s homeless population, according to a 2024 report from the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

• See Related: Homelessness Is Surging In Essex County, Latest Data Shows

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