Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on Tuesday announced that 24 organizations working to help the homeless will receive a combined $97.5 million in grants from his Day One Fund, CNBC reported.
The $2 billion fund launched in September and included two separate funds: the Families Fund and the Academics Fund. The former would provide an annual award to nonprofits that provide shelter and hunger support to communities, while the latter would support a network of “high-quality, full-scholarship” preschools for people living in low-income neighborhoods.
The 24 organizations receiving financial support from the Day One Fund are located in 16 states across the country, as well as the District of Columbia.
Some of the organizations include the Urban Resource Institute in New York, N.Y., which received $5 million; the District Alliance for Safe Housing (DASH) in Washington, D.C., which received $2.5 million; and the Primo Center for Women and Children in Chicago, Ill., which received $2.5 million.
The move comes after Amazon over the summer led efforts to stop a tax on major businesses that would have helped raise money for affordable housing in Seattle, Vanity Fair reported. The tax would have been placed on companies that make at least $20 million in gross revenue, and aimed to raise an annual $50 million for efforts to house people. In protest, Amazon threatened to stop construction on a high-rise near its headquarters while the tax was being considered by city council.
More recently, Bezos—the wealthiest man in recent history with a net worth of more than $125 billion—was criticized over the decision to split the new Amazon headquarters into two locations, in Crystal City, Va. And Queens, N.Y.
Incoming New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took aim at the corporation on Twitter: “Displacement is not community development. Investing in luxury condos is not the same thing as investing in people and families.”
Tuesday’s announcement was for recipients of the Day One Families Fund. The full list of organizations and their respective funding can be found here.
