Bezos Day 1 Families Fund Announces 2023 Grants — Which Total $117.55 Million!

Among this year’s grants is $3.75 million for the Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte, which received its first grant from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund in 2018

The Bezos Day 1 Families Fund, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, has announced their 2023 grantees as part of the giving season.

The Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte is one of 38 groups and organizations to receive a grant this year for their work “doing compassionate, needle-moving work to provide shelter and hunger support to address the immediate needs of young families,” according to a news release obtained by PEOPLE.

This year’s grants total $117.55 million, including $3.75 million for the Charlotte-based organization, which received its first grant from the Day 1 Families Fund in 2018. The fund, which was launched in 2018, has committed $2 billion to the cause of helping families experiencing homeless.

Deronda Metz, director of social services at the organization’s Center of Hope Shelter for Women, tells PEOPLE she is “thankful” for the massive financial commitment for addressing homelessness.

“What a great commitment. What a great way to invest your funds, making sure that somebody have a basic need and something so important as a roof and shelter over their head,” says Metz, who has a master’s degree in social work and is a licensed clinician.

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Metz began working with the Salvation Army while in college, and has spent the last 33 years with the organization. At the time, the Greater Charlotte location was an emergency shelter without a day program, she says.

The shelter was initially located in Uptown Charlotte, but eventually moved to their current location on Stuart Andrew Boulevard, going from a 50-person shelter to a 300-person shelter in the process.

In 2018, Metz says, the Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte received its first grant from the Day 1 Families Fund worth $5 million. The funds went toward opening up a Boys and Girls Club in the shelter, which is now expanding, thanks in part to the funds from the second grant it received from the Day 1 Family Fund.

The new funds will help open a teen center and give them a separate space from some of the younger kids. “What we do with our children that are homeless is vital and very important,” Metz tells PEOPLE.

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The funds from the 2018 grant also allowed the organization to expand all of its continuing services, and has been highlighted as one of the first “low barrier shelters,” meaning there are minimal requirements for one to receive assistance.

Additionally, two case managers were hired using the 2018 funds “to help us decrease the time that people were in shelter,” Metz says. “Those flexible dollars really helped us to be able to raise the rate that we were moving people out of housing,” she adds.

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Recently, the Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte purchased a hotel that it plans to renovate using funds from the Day 1 Families Fund, Metz says. The space will include 100 units and be open to families of all kinds.

The funds will also help individuals who need short term assistance without the restrictions typically attached to government funds, Metz says.

“I know we can't solve it all, but … when you have this type of funding, you can definitely make an impact in what you do,” she tells PEOPLE. “You leverage your existing systems and leverage some of the programs that you've been doing to stretch it even further.

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In a press release announcing the 2023 grant recipients, the Day 1 Families Fund praised Metz for being “committed to serving her community as a leader and advocate on issues of homelessness, affordable housing, and domestic violence including human trafficking.”

“She is a constant voice for those that are homeless across the Country and has been involved in several advocacy efforts that have resulted in affordable housing solutions,” the organization said.

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