Cranford-based Monarch Housing Associates, Morristown-based Family Promise of Morris County, Montclair-based Family Promise of Essex County and Stafford-based Family Promise of Jersey Shore all recently received grants from the Day 1 Families Fund sponsored by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez that aims to combat homelessness.
Monarch Housing and Family Promise of Morris County each received $1.25 million; Family Promise of Essex County and Family Promise of the Jersey Shore both received $425,000.
This is the seventh year that the Day 1 Families Fund has awarded grants to organizations across the country that are leading the way to move the needle on family homelessness with the goal of ensuring that no child sleeps outside – but the first-time nonprofits from New Jersey have been awarded.
Since 2018, the Day 1 Families Fund has awarded 248 grants totaling more than $750 million to organizations serving families in 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The grants are uniquely flexible and enable organizations to support families experiencing homelessness — including those who are unsheltered or staying in shelters — to regain safe, stable housing and achieve well-being.
This year, the Fund issued a total of $110.5 million in grants to 40 organizations,
For Monarch Housing Associates, a nonprofit organization focused on creating affordable and supportive housing as well as building and implementing plans to end homelessness, the grant is the largest gift in the organization’s history. CEO Taiisa Kelly obviously was ecstatic.
“We are thrilled to have these kinds of resources coming into New Jersey to address family homelessness,” she said. “We truly believe housing is a human right and this funding will help us make that a reality for so many New Jersey families experiencing homelessness.”
Joann Bjornson, CEO of Family Promise of Morris County, was equally thrilled.
“We are incredibly honored to receive this funding and be nationally recognized for our work across outreach, shelter and housing,” she said. “This support empowers us to expand safe and accessible housing for families in need. We are deeply grateful for this opportunity to make a greater impact in our community. As a member of Family Promise National, we are all working together to end family homelessness across the county. “
Tia Aery, executive director of Family Promise of Essex County, also was thrilled.
“We are ecstatic to receive this grant from the Day 1 Families Fund,” she said. “With homelessness and particularly family homelessness on the rise in Essex County, this grant comes at a critical time. These funds will allow us to help significantly more families move from homelessness to stable housing.”
Family homelessness in the U.S. rose dramatically from 2022 to 2023, and families now represent more than 28 percent of the country’s homeless population, according to a 2024 report from the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
