Bezos gives Miami homeless agency $5 million amid ‘tremendous new demands’ for housing
A Miami organization that helps people experiencing homelessness get back on their feet says it will be able to provide housing and social services for hundreds more families in the coming years after receiving a massive cash gift from one of the world’s richest men.
“We’re here because I got an email at 1 a.m. this morning from Jeff Bezos,” Peter Pruitt, president and CEO of Chapman Partnership, said at a Tuesday morning press conference announcing the $5 million gift.
Pruitt said the grant — one of 40 announced Tuesday by Bezos’ Day 1 Families Fund — will allow Chapman Partnership to secure permanent housing for an additional 210 families over a three-year period and enhanced services such as medical and mental care or career training for another 1,500 families.
Pruitt said the contribution, which is the largest private, single donation the organization has received, will also allow the organization to provide accredited trauma-informed training for all staff.
“We’re chomping at the bit to get going on this,” said Pruitt, who succeeded Symeria T. Hudson as president of Chapman Partnership in June.
The one-time grant from Bezos, the founder of Amazon and an alum of Miami Palmetto Senior High, lands at a time of increased need as housing prices across Miami-Dade County continue to rise. Homelessness also appears to be increasing in the region. During its twice-a-year count in August, the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust estimated a 23% increase in people living on the street and not in a shelter, the Herald previously reported.
“Because of COVID, because of the rental crisis that’s going on in our community, because of migrant inflow, we’re seeing tremendous new demands that we haven’t seen before,” Victoria Mallette, executive director at Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust, said at the Tuesday press conference.
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The Chapman Partnership is a key player in Miami, working as a privately run nonprofit alongside the publicly funded Homeless Trust. The organization spends roughly $20 million a year, mostly on programming, according to its most recently available tax documents. Between its two locations in Miami and Homestead, Chapman Partnership has 800 beds available for people in need of temporary shelter.
But the grant will not be used to increase that temporary bed count, Pruitt said. Instead, the nonprofit will use the money to get people experiencing homelessness into permanent housing.
“The focus is really for families — not adding more temporary shelter beds — but doing a more efficient job at helping families end their homelessness,” said Mallette. “Only when they’re off the street and out of shelters and permanently housed has their homelessness ended. So this is about efficiently moving people into housing, about seeing successful exits, about ensuring that there are not returns.”
About 44% of Chapman’s resident population are families with children, according to the organization’s website. Their average length of stay is 120 days. The program’s housing specialists help clients secure permanent housing, which Chapman defines as a long-term placement, said spokeswoman Andrea Phillips-Lopez.
Those specialists have connections with over 100 landlords in the region. “Once a unit is located, Housing Specialists work with landlords and residents to negotiate leases, get utilities turned on, ensure units are prepared for Housing Quality Standards Inspections,” Phillips-Lopez said.
The contribution will also allow for the expansion of Chapman’s team of specialized case managers, life skills coaches and certified mental health counselors, she said.
The funding for homeless services in Miami is part of Bezos’ initiative to give away $2 billion to help families experiencing homelessness and open high-quality preschools in low-income neighborhoods. Bezos announced the initiative in 2018, posting on Twitter that he would provide money to “organizations and civic groups doing compassionate, needle-moving work to provide shelter and hunger support to address the immediate needs of young families.”
Phillips-Lopez said said Chapman Partnership will receive the full award within the next few weeks.
Another Florida organization — Changing Homelessness in Jacksonville — received $2.5 million through Bezos’ fund, according to the Tuesday announcement.
This story was originally published November 22, 2022 at 9:04 AM.
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