By Kelly Rose
Welcome House
Welcome House Northern of Kentucky, the only women’s and children’s low-barrier shelter in Northern Kentucky, received a $1.25 million grant from the Jeff Bezos Day 1 Families Fund.
Welcome House grant will help more children and families.
Welcome House works to end homelessness by offering a continuum of services to their clients to take them from housing uncertainty to housing stability.
Over the past 14 years, Welcome House has served over 86,000 homeless men, women, and children living in Northern Kentucky.
“Our recognition by such a respected organization says a lot about the professionals, funders and volunteers of Welcome House,” said Welcome House CEO Danielle Amrine. “It is nothing short of inspiring. The bottom line is that this grant will help end homelessness for more people in our community.”
This one-time grant, awarded to organizations moving the needle on family homelessness, will allow Welcome House Northern Kentucky to enhance current programming.
The organization will be able to help more families find affordable housing and provide them with services that will keep them housed. These services include mental health services, SNAP benefits, employment and basic life skills.
Welcome House Northern Kentucky is one of 32 nonprofits across the U.S. to receive the second annual Day 1 Families Fund grants, as part of a broad investment by the Day 1 Families Fund to help solve family homelessness.
The Day 1 Families Fund issued a total of $98.5 million in grants this year. The fund worked with an advisory board of homelessness advocates and experts who identified and invited organizations to submit grant proposals to support their efforts to address homelessness
Last year, Welcome House served 248 women and children in their shelter and a total of 1300 families.
“Funding from Day 1 couldn’t have come at a better time, we are seeing an increase in families with children who are experiencing homelessness in our region,” explains Danielle Amrine. “Our hope is to be able to get families back on track and stabilized in homes of their own.”
The Bezos Day One Fund was launched in 2018 with a commitment of $2 billion and a focus on two areas: funding existing non-profits that help homeless families, and creating a network of new, non-profit tier-one preschools in low-income communities.
To learn more about Welcome House click here.
