Hospitality House of Northwest N.C. Awarded $2.5 Million

Hospitality House of Northwest N.C. Awarded $2.5 Million

Hospitality House of Northwest N.C. Awarded $2.5 Million Bezos Day 1 Families Fund Grant
to Help Rural Northwest North Carolina Families Find Safe Shelter, Housing and Stability
Fund grants $117.55 million to 38 nonprofits across the U.S. making measurable progress on reducing
family homelessness.

BOONE, N.C. – (Nov. 21, 2023): Hospitality House of Northwest North Carolina, a regional nonprofit
homeless services agency working in seven rural counties to provide housing, shelter, food access,
homeless prevention, street outreach, counseling, and crisis assistance, today announced that it has
received a $2.5 million grant from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund—the largest gift in the organization’s
history. This is the sixth round of annual Day 1 Families Fund grants, which recognize leading
organizations doing compassionate, needle-moving work to help families experiencing homelessness
secure housing and achieve stability.

“Housing unsheltered families has been one of our top priorities for several years now,” said Tina B.
Krause, executive director of Hospitality House. “This grant will enable us to expand our solutions-based
approach to ending homelessness. This award, outside of the federal and state grant system, allows us
to have a more diversified funding portfolio and will open up more innovative opportunities to house
families experiencing homelessness.”

This one-time, uniquely flexible grant will support Hospitality House in serving as a critical lifeline to
children and adults in families experiencing homelessness, who represent more than a quarter of the
homeless population nationally. Hospitality House plans to use its Day 1 Families Fund grant to expand
critical life-saving shelter services to High Country families experiencing homelessness, resulting in
permanent housing solutions for the seven rural counties it serves. In addition, the agency will utilize the
funds to expand domestic violence transitional housing and permanent supportive housing in Wilkes
County on a newly acquired 19-acre parcel of land.

Hospitality House of Northwest N.C. 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.

EMBARGOED UNTIL NOVEMBER 21, 2023 – 8 AM ET
Over the past six years, the Day 1 Families Fund has provided 208 grants totaling more than $630 million
to organizations around the country working on the frontlines to identify unsheltered families, help
families regain housing and connect families experiencing homelessness to vital services. A selection of
more than half of the Day 1 Families Fund grantees who received funding between 2018 through 2021
report that, to date, they have used their grants to divert more than 28,000 families from experiencing
homelessness, connect more than 30,000 unsheltered families with safe shelter and help more than
75,000 families access the services they need.

This year, the Fund issued a total of $117.55 million in grants to 38 organizations. The Day 1 Families
Fund has now granted this award to organizations in 48 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
New states this year include Arkansas, Vermont, and Wyoming. The other organizations receiving grants
in North Carolina are Family Promise of the Triangle and The Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte. The
full list of awardees is available at bezosdayonefund.org/day1familiesfund.

Launched in 2018, the Bezos Day One Fund made a $2 billion commitment to focus on making
meaningful and lasting impacts in two areas: funding existing nonprofits that help families experiencing
homelessness, and creating a network of new, nonprofit tier-one preschools in low-income
communities. The Bezos Day 1 Families Fund issues annual leadership awards to organizations and civic
groups doing compassionate, needle-moving work to help families experiencing homelessness—
including those who are unsheltered or staying in shelters—regain safe, stable housing, and achieve
well-being. 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 Hospitality House of Northwest N.C.
Since 1984, the mission of Hospitality House of Northwest N.C. has been to rebuild lives and strengthen
community by providing a safe, nurturing, healthy environment in which individuals and families
experiencing homelessness and poverty-related crises are equipped to become self-sufficient and
productive. From humble beginnings of a donated house used as a shelter on King Street in downtown
Boone, N.C, the organization now operates nine housing programs across seven counties that
encompass Watauga, Wilkes, Avery, Ashe, Mitchell, Yancey, and Alleghany.