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Jeff Bezos foundation awards $2.5M grant to Flagstaff Shelter Services

In this Sept. 13, 2018, file photo Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO, speaks at The Economic Club of Washington's Milestone Celebration in Washington.
AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File
In this Sept. 13, 2018, file photo Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO, speaks at The Economic Club of Washington's Milestone Celebration in Washington.

Flagstaff Shelter Services has received a $2.5 million grant from a foundation started by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

It marks the largest private gift that the local nonprofit, which serves those experiencing homelessness, has ever received.

The Day 1 Families Fund was founded in 2018 and benefits groups that work to move unsheltered families to permanent housing with services.

Flagstaff Shelter Services’ director Ross Schaefer called the grant a “new chapter” for the organization and says it’ll allow them to significantly scale up their efforts to combat family homelessness.

A bulk of the grant will be used to purchase a hotel and convert it into a long-term housing facility and hire more staff.

The Day 1 Fund has provided 170 grants totaling more than $520 million in the last five years.