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Press Release – HRDC Receives $5 Million Bezos Day 1 Families Fund Grant

Graphic of the HRDC logo with text that reads, HRDC Building a Better Community.

11/22/2022

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Penny Johnson, HRDC Communication Manager
303-828-8481
pjohnson@thehrdc.org 

HRDC Receives $5 Million Bezos Day 1 Families Fund Grant to Help End Homelessness for Families in Montana

Fund grants $123.45million to 40 nonprofits across the U.S. to move the needle on re-housing and supporting families experiencing homelessness

BOZEMAN, Mont. – (November 22, 2022): HRDC, which provides shelter and robust wraparound services for families and individuals facing homelessness in Southwest Montana, today announced that it has received a $5 million grant from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund—the largest gift in the organization’s 48-year history. Launched in 2018 by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the Day 1 Families Fund issues annual leadership awards to leading organizations on the frontlines that are employing compassionate, needle-moving work to help families move from unsheltered homelessness and shelters to permanent housing with the services they require to achieve stability.

“This generous grant will allow HRDC to continue to pioneer creative solutions to address the lack of accessible housing and homelessness in our community while ensuring we meet the individual needs of our most vulnerable neighbors,” said HRDC’s CEO Heather Grenier. “Many Montana families are struggling to secure basic shelter and necessary support; with this grant we will be able to meet immediate needs and create lasting solutions that will help them regain stability in their lives.”

This one-time grant will help HRDC in its tireless work to support families as they reel from skyrocketing rent costs, the limited availability of housing and insufficient income. HRDC plans to use the grant funds to construct family-specific shelter space and to create more transitional and permanent housing solutions, provide full wrap-around services and identify tailored solutions to the individual needs of the families and individuals in their care working to create a pathway to a brighter future.

HRDC was selected as a Day 1 Families Fund grant recipient by a group of national advisors who are leading advocates and experts on homelessness and service provision. National advisors brought expertise on housing justice, advancing racial equity and helping programs employ resources effectively to assist families out of homelessness.

Over the past five years, the Day 1 Families Fund has provided 170 grants totaling more than $520 million to organizations around the country working to combat homelessness and help families gain housing support and stability. This year, the Fund issued a total of $123.45 million in grants to the following organizations: Carpenter’s Shelter; CATCH, Inc.; Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona; The Center for Women and Families; Changing Homelessness; Chapman Partnership; Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County; Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County, Inc.; Community Services & Employment Training (CSET); Ending Community Homelessness Coalition (ECHO); Family Promise of Hawai’i; Family Promise of Northern New Castle County; Family Services of Tulare County; Flagstaff Shelter Services; Gateway180; Heartland Alliance; H.O.M.E. Inc.; Homeless Alliance; Hope House of Milwaukee; Housing First, Inc.; Housing Forward; HRDC; Ka Hale A Ke Ola Homeless Resource Centers, Inc.; LA Family Housing; Mother Nation; Nashua Soup Kitchen & Shelter, Inc.; New Reach; Oglala Sioux Tribe; Partners for HOME; PATH; The Salvation Army, Denver Metro Area; Samish Indian Nation; San Diego Regional Task Force on Homelessness; Sojourner Truth House; Solo Por Hoy, Inc.; Start Corporation; Strategies to End Homelessness; The Wellspring; YWCA Cass Clay; and YWCA Missoula’s Housing Programs.

Kristin Hamburg, HRDC’s development director, shared the importance of the timing of this gift: “We are so grateful for this incredibly impactful investment. Thanks to the Day 1 Families Fund’s belief in our community, staff and customers, we are closer to being able to relocate the services we offer our neighbors experiencing homelessness to a single, more accessible location. It also provides the resources needed to address the needs of families experiencing homelessness.”

The Bezos Day One Fund made a $2 billion commitment to focus on making meaningful and lasting impacts in two areas: funding existing non-profits that help families experiencing homelessness, and creating a network of new, non-profit tier-one preschools in low-income communities. The Day 1 Families Fund issues annual leadership awards to organizations and civic groups doing compassionate, needle-moving work to provide shelter and hunger support to address the immediate needs of young families. The vision statement comes from the inspiring Mary’s Place in Seattle: no child sleeps outside. For more information, visit www.BezosDayOneFund.org/Day1FamiliesFund.

About HRDC

HRDC is a private not-for-profit Community Action Agency focused on building a better community. Through its nearly 50 service offerings, HRDC combats poverty and homelessness across southwestern Montana and believes everyone deserves the resources needed to care for themselves and their families as well as access to long-term solutions that allow them to regain their stability. Learn more at thehrdc.org.

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Public Sector

Since 2015, Brooke has been working with Allergan Aesthetics, Body Contouring. In 2018, Brooke began her role as Senior Manager of Training. Brooke graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Commercial Photography from Appalachian State University in 2011.

Brooke began her role on our Board in 2019. However, she feels it’s more fitting to say that she gets to serve on our Board. For Brooke, an evening at our Fork & Spoon was her first glance into our organization’s powerful work. As Brooke states, joining the Board has only expanded her appreciation for the caliber of people leading our mission and the impact of our vast ecosystem of services. While metrics alone are impressive, Brooke likes to visualize each number as an individual example of support – an extension of a helping hand, a moment of relief – given to one of our neighbors. She is grateful for the opportunity to participate in shaping HRDC’s future.

Although Brooke spends most of her volunteer time with HRDC, she was fortunate enough to build with Habitat for Humanity over the course of the summer in 2020. Her favorite place to spend time is anywhere under the Big Sky, although Hyalite may be her favorite place on Earth.

Ron Brey

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Ron served as Bozeman’s Assistant City Manager from 1990 to 2008. After retiring, Ron joined our Board in 2011. Ron received his Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Montana in 1977, and his Masters in Science in Rural, Town, and Regional Planning from the University of Montana in 1987.

During his time with the City of Bozeman, Ron saw the important role that HRDC has played in our community. Ron has seen that HRDC provides necessary social services to assure that all Bozeman residents could obtain housing, food, training, employment and the other necessities of life. He also came to understand that HRDC was always able to respond immediately as new community needs arose. Ron believes that the dedication, hard work, and compassion of HRDC’s staff make it a real honor to serve on the Board.

Ron also serves on the Trails, Open Space and Parks Committee for the City of Bozeman, and as a volunteer with the Red Cross. One of Ron’s favorite activities is walking his beloved dog every day, enjoying many of Bozeman’s trails and parks, like Burke Park, Bozeman Creek, and the Hyalite and Mount Ellis areas. Ron and his wife Claire enjoy spending their days with family, friends, and time outdoors.