A $1.25 million donation from the Bezos Day 1 Family Fund — the largest donation in the nonprofit’s 37-year history — will allow 16 to 20 more families each year to be housed in Harford County, via expansions at two shelters, in Aberdeen and Belcamp.
The donation, from a foundation supported by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sanchez Bezos and announced earlier this month, will be dispersed through annual installments of $250,000 over the next five years. The Bezos Day 1 Family Fund supports organizations aiding families experiencing homelessness, according to the fund’s website.
“It is an honor to get this kind of award, but it reflects the entire community because they have invested so much in the Harford Family House through donations and volunteer time,” Tomechko said. “We want to rally the community to continue that support.”
The Belcamp expansion will create a separate area for family apartments that can house four to six families. Tomechko said the expansion should be complete next summer.
At the Aberdeen location, Tomechko said Harford Family House currently has offices occupying apartment space. The goal is to move the office space and free up additional units to accommodate an additional six families.
Due to factors such as lacking affordable housing, increasing medical costs and rising cost of living, family homelessness has been rapidly growing across Harford County, the CEO said. Working with Harford County Public Schools, Harford Family House has identified that more than 500 children in the school system do not have a permanent home address.
“Family homelessness is really on the rise in Harford County, so we thank God for people like the Bezos Day 1 Family Fund that actually go into communities, and recognize the needs and infuse cash to help,” Tomechko said.
The Harford Family House is the largest homeless family outreach organization in Harford County and provides temporary resources such as financial literacy training, budgeting resources, employment connections and fully furnished apartments outfitted with community donations.
Harford Family House was one of 32 organizations to receive a portion of $102.5 million donated through the Day 1 Families Fund this year. The fund has provided more than $850 million to organizations that assist homeless families, in the past eight years.
Despite the donation’s large impact, Tomechko said the Harford Family House still relies heavily on community support.
“This is a huge investment in our capacity, but we need the community to continue to contribute because our local donors and our volunteers are the foundation of our organization, and they keep us going day-to-day,” Tomechko said. “Every gift is as vital to us as this [$1.25 million] gift is.”
Have a news tip? Contact Matt Hubbard at mhubbard@baltsun.com, 443-651-0101 or @mthubb on X.
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