Amazon founder’s charity donates $5M to Miami homeless nonprofit

MIAMI – A Miami non-profit that helps run two homeless assistance centers got a big donation Tuesday from a charity founded by one of the world’s richest men.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Day 1 Families Fund donated $5 million to the Chapman Partnership, which works with the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust and runs centers in downtown Miami and Homestead.

Executives announced the news at its downtown Miami campus Tuesday morning.

The $5 million grant will be spread out over three years.

Rather than adding more beds, executives said they plan to use the money to offer additional social services, including new, specialized life-skills programs for children and families as well as children’s reading programs.

“First of all, I got an email from Jeff Bezos at 1 a.m. How often do you get a chance to get that, right?” Chapman Partnership President & CEO Peter Pruitt said. “What we’ve been doing doesn’t change. The way we’ve been organized, the way we operate, what we do every day won’t change. This is additional things that will enhance what we’re doing.”

Executives said Bezos and his charity came to them personally about applying for the grant.

It’s the single-largest donation the Chapman Partnership has ever received.

“This grant is going to be transformative,” Victoria Mallette, executive director of the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust, said. “It’s going to help us serve more families across the continuum. We have, on any given day, 300 families with minor children experiencing homelessness.”