(BIVN) – Hope Services Hawaii is receiving a $2.5 million grant from Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez to help end homelessness for families on the Big Island.

Hope Services is one of 40 organizations across the U.S. receiving a total of $110.5 million from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund.

From a Hope Services news release announcing the award:

Hope Services Hawaii, Inc., an organization working to end homelessness on Hawaii Island, today announced that it has received a $2.5 million grant from Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez through the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund. This grant builds on the $2.5 million Day 1 Families Fund grant received in 2019. This is the seventh year that the Day 1 Families Fund has awarded grants to organizations across the country that are leading the way to move the needle on family homelessness to ensure that no child sleeps outside.

“We are grateful for the Day 1 Families Fund’s continued support of Hawaii Island families,” said Brandee Menino, CEO of Hope Services Hawaii. “Our families are facing unprecedented hardship and these funds will allow us to expand our data-driven, effective approach to helping them avoid and overcome homelessness.”

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.  With this second Day 1 Families Fund grant, Hope Services Hawaii (HOPE) will continue to work to reverse this national trend by serving families experiencing homelessness on Hawaii Island.

With its first Day 1 Families Fund grant, Hope Services Hawaii helped reduce family homelessness on Hawaii Island by 25%, according to the community’s point-in-time count. The team used the flexibility of the funds to lease homes from the private rental market and sublease them to families at an affordable rate, while also establishing a Street Medicine program to ensure unsheltered families received the care they needed. They expanded shelter capacity through hotel stays and began pre-development activities to boost housing inventory.

Hope Services Hawaii plans to use its new Day 1 Families Fund grant to continue focusing on moving families into housing as quickly as possible. Hope Services Hawaii plans to scale their master leasing efforts, acquiring and leasing additional homes to provide immediate, stable housing for families. Additionally, the funds will be used to acquire and develop new housing units, helping to meet the growing demand for affordable housing on Hawaii Island.

A group of national advisors who are leading experts on family homelessness and its solutions, including the intersection of homelessness and housing policy, child welfare, racial equity and service provision, identified the organizations selected for funding.

Some of the many lives HOPE has helped change are those of Ray Reyes and his family. Reyes said he reached out to Hope Services after his family became homeless in 2019. The agency was like a “stepping stone,” Reyes said, and helped them find permanent housing. “To this day, we still (have) permanent housing through Hope Services,” Reyes said. “Hope Services was also a blessing to me and my family,” he said. “When we needed them the most, they were there for us.”

Now an employed with Hope Services’ Kihei Pua Family Shelter in Hilo as a Housing Navigator, Reyes helps families get into permanent housing. “One of my favorite parts about my job is having that encounter with the families that are going through whatever they are going through (and) helping them overcome the barriers that are stopping them from being housed,” he said. “What makes it even better is when I got hired by Hope Services, I was there just like how (the families) were. It makes me feel real good inside by helping other people, by helping families get housed.”

Since 2018, the Day 1 Families Fund has awarded 248 grants totaling nearly $750 million to organizations serving families in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The grants are uniquely flexible and enable organizations to support families experiencing homelessness—including those who are unsheltered or staying in shelters—to regain safe, stable housing and achieve well-being.

This year, the Fund issued a total of $110.5 million in grants to 40 organizations, and for the first time, nonprofits in Kansas and New Jersey are among the awardees. The full list of awardees is available at bezosdayonefund.org.