NORFOLK, Va. – The Bezos Day 1 Families Fund, which was started by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has gifted $2.5 million the Hampton Roads non-profit ForKids.
Photo provided through ForKidsVa Facebook page.
According to a press release from ForKids, the money will help build and provide expanded services in the nonprofit’s Center for Children and Families, currently under construction in the community of South Norfolk in Chesapeake.
“Hearing ForKids had received the Day 1 Families Fund grant is something you always hope you will get as a nonprofit executive. I am ecstatic for our families, my team and this community,” said Thaler McCormick, CEO of ForKids. “This grant brings ForKids another step closer to completing a $25 million capital campaign to fund two new regional centers and expanded services. New buildings do not, by themselves, help families stabilize long-term. We have to put services in them, and that is what this grant does.”
ForKids started as a grassroots shelter in Ocean View and now serves 70,000 people across Southeastern Virginia. The local non-profit was one or 32 nonprofits across the U.S. to receive the second annual Day 1 Families Fund grants.
These grants, which equal a total investment of $98.5 million, go towards ending family homelessness across the nation.
ForKids Board Chair Kelly Sokol said the ForKids board celebrates the Day 1 Families Fund recognizing the strength of ForKids and the project in South Norfolk. “So many people in this community have worked incredibly hard to get ForKids to this moment and supported this project. We are proud to bring national funding into Hampton Roads to expand services for families,” said ForKids Board Chair Kelly Sokol.
This year, the grant recipients from around the country include: Bethany House Services, Catholic Charities Eastern Washington, Catholic Social Services Alaska, Coburn Place, Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, Covenant House, Family Gateway, FamilyAid Boston, ForKids, Goodwill Industries of Northern Michigan, Great Lakes Community Action Partnership, Homeless Services Network of Central Florida, HOPE Services Hawaii, HopeWorks, Interim Community Development Association, Lafayette Transitional Housing Center, Mary’s Place Seattle, MIFA, Our Family Services, Pathways of Hope, St. Joseph Center, St. Joseph’s Villa, St. Stephen’s Human Services, St. Vincent de Paul, The Road Home, The Road Home Dane County, The Whole Child, UNITY Of Greater New Orleans, Upward Bound House, Welcome House of Northern Kentucky, West Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness, and YWCA Columbus.
For more on the Bezos Day One Fund, click here.
