Project Community Connections, Inc. Receives $2.5 Million Bezos Day 1 Families Fund Grant to Help End Homelessness for Families in Atlanta

ATLANTA, Ga. – (November 17, 2021): Project Community Connections, Inc. (PCCI), established in 1998 with a mission to permanently rehouse people experiencing homelessness into decent, affordable housing options and to improve the quality of life of individuals and families by providing ancillary services that promote personal and economic self-sufficiency, today announced that it has been selected to receive a $2.5 million grant from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund—the largest private grant in PCCI’s history. Launched in 2018 by Amazon founder and executive chair Jeff Bezos, the Day 1 Families Fund issues 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.

“We are honored to be recognized by our peers and the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund for our work to end family homelessness in Atlanta,” said Margaret R. Schuelke, Co-CEO of PCCI.  “Our role is to advocate for our clients and provide exceptional services, to innovate and share best case practices to ending homelessness, and to be good stewards of all of our resources.”

According to Jimiyu Evans, Co-CEO of PCCI: “Meaningful and lasting impact is a constant goal for Project Community Connections, Inc. The support of the Day 1 Families Fund will not only reach the individual families with children we serve but also strengthen the communities in which they live, work and THRIVE.”

This one-time grant will allow PCCI to make homelessness in Atlanta rare, brief and only one time. Over the next three years, PCCI will use the grant to provide permanent housing solutions to an additional 850 young families with children experiencing homelessness, while also helping children avoid entry into the child welfare system. PCCI will deepen its impact for years to come by making the organization’s new home at Thrive Sweet Auburn — PCCI’s mixed-income, mixed-use development of 117 units of affordable housing in downtown Atlanta.

Project Community Connections, Inc. was selected as a Day 1 Families Fund grant recipient by an independent advisory board comprised of homelessness experts with experience in policy, advocacy, racial equity, child welfare and housing and service delivery, as well as firsthand experience in homelessness.

This year, the Day 1 Families Fund issued a total of $96.2 million in grants to 32 organizations across the country. The 2021 Day 1 Families Fund grant recipients are: ACLAMO; Adopt-A-Family of the Palm Beaches; Alabama Rural Coalition for the Homeless, Inc.; All Chicago Making Homelessness History; AACI (Asian Americans for Community Involvement); Building Changes and Africatown International; Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa; Colorado Coalition for the Homeless; Covenant House Alaska; Destination: Home; Doorways; Family Life Center; Family Service League; Friends of the Family; Homeless Action Network of Detroit; Homeward; LifeMoves; Lubbock Open Door; Mesilla Valley Community of Hope; Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter & Services; Mississippi United to End Homelessness; Newcap, Inc.; Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance (OCAPICA); Portland Homeless Family Solutions; Project Community Connections, Inc.; Rural Alaska Community Action Program (RurAL CAP); Sacramento Steps Forward; SHELTER, Inc.; Texas Homeless Network; The Link; Tri County Community Action Agency, Inc.; and Union Station Homeless Services.

“To see me transition from being homeless to being a parent that now is renting an apartment to take care of her kids—I know I can maintain that,” said a mother who benefited from PCCI’s help.

The Bezos Day One Fund made a $2 billion commitment to focus on making meaningful and lasting impacts in two areas: funding existing non-profits that help families experiencing homelessness, and creating a network of new, non-profit tier-one preschools in low-income communities. The Day 1 Families Fund issues 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. Since 2018, the Day 1 Families Fund has issued 130 grants totaling more than $398 million to organizations around the country working to combat homelessness and help families gain housing support and stability. The vision statement comes from the inspiring Mary’s Place in Seattle: no child sleeps outside. For more information, visit www.BezosDayOneFund.org/Day1FamiliesFund.

About Project Community Connections, Inc.
For more than 20 years, Project Community Connections, Inc. (PCCI) has provided compassionate care with an expert’s eye, always working on the cutting edge of effective housing solutions, while never losing sight of the unique needs of each individual who walks through the door. Over the last five years, PCCI has provided hope, housing, and key services to 6,959 individuals from across the Atlanta metro area. PCCI employs a Housing First approach, by offering services without preconditions such as a family’s lack of employment or income, past criminal history, or addiction to alcohol or drugs. PCCI continues to operate with the wide, curious eyes of a new organization, but also with the benefit of clear hindsight. It is not just interested in investing in the individuals it serves, but also in communities as a whole.