Two local nonprofits that help individuals and families experiencing homelessness have received multimillion dollar grants from Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, and his wife Lauren Sanchez Bezos.
City Care and City Rescue Mission are each set to receive a $2.5 million grant from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund to help them as they work to eradicate homelessness.
For City Rescue Mission, the grant is the largest one-time gift in the organization’s history.
“This unprecedented grant brings us closer than ever to a future where no child in our community has to face the trauma of homelessness,” Erin Goodin, City Rescue Mission president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. “It is a transformative act of trust in our mission, and we are profoundly grateful. This grant will allow us to expand our work with families experiencing homelessness and bring more families home.”
City Rescue Mission, plans to use the grant funding over the next five years to expand the agency’s family housing program by adding diversion services, flexible housing assistance and a larger stabilization team to help families secure housing quickly and keep it. In addition to emergency shelter for individuals and families, the nonprofit offers programs focusing on employment readiness, life skills and how to live independently.
City Care leaders said their organization plans to use the grant to serve more families experiencing homelessness in Oklahoma City and Norman. City Care wants to use the funding to create lasting infrastructure that streamlines resource referrals, enhances wraparound supports and increases housing stability outcomes for hundreds of families over the next several years.
Among other services, the nonprofit operates a low-barrier night shelter, free shuttles that help connect riders to vital services in the community, and affordable supportive housing.
“We are thrilled by this opportunity to expand our support for families experiencing homelessness, one of the fastest-growing populations facing housing instability,” said Rachel Freeman, City Care chief executive officer, in a statement.
“This funding will greatly increase our capacity to meet families the moment they need help, surround them with care and guide them quickly into safe, stable housing and a place to call home.”
City Care and City Rescue Mission were among 32 organizations across the country that were the 2025 Bezos Day 1 Families Fun award recipients. The awards, totaling $102.5 million, were given to agencies across the country to help expand their work to help families have a safe, stable place to call home.
Bezos’ ex-spouse gives to state organizations
The Bezos’ multimillion grants come on the heels of several major gifts awarded to three Oklahoma institutions of higher learning by Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott.
In a little more than a week’s time, Scott donated multimillion grants to the College of the Muscogee Nation, Northern Oklahoma College and Northeastern State University through her philanthropic organization Yield Giving.
On Nov. 22, Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa and Enid announced that it had received $17 million from Scott, the single largest contribution in the school’s history. The philanthropist gave $17 million to Northeastern State University in Tahlequah in Tahlequah on Nov. 25.
And The College of the Muscogee Nation in Okmulgee announced in a Nov. 28 Facebook post that Scott had donated $8 million to the tribal college.
