Jeff Bezos Announces $2 Billion Fund to Support Homeless Services

Lisa Stiffler and Todd Bishop report that Jeff Bezos has unveiled a new fund to provide support for homeless families, among other efforts.

The "Bezos Day One Fund" will start as a $2 billion commitment from the Amazon founder and CEO, who announced the new initiative on Twitter.

Stiffler and Bishop explain in more detail:

As promised in an earlier tweet, the new fund focuses on two areas: "funding existing non-profits that help homeless families, and creating a network of new, non-profit, tier-one preschools in low-income communities," he writes. “Day One” is a reference to Bezos’ mantra at Amazon, that it’s essential to approach every day with the enthusiasm and energy of a new venture because it’s “always Day One.”

Also:

On the homelessness side, the Day 1 Families Fund “will issue 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,” he writes, citing the vision statement of Seattle-based non-profit Mary’s Place as inspiration: “no child sleeps outside.”

A previous story, also by Stiffler, previewed the big announcement by asking the question, "What in the world (or universe will Jeff Bezos do with his riches?"