Union Station Homeless Services Receives $5 Million Bezos Grant to Expand Family Support Programs

Union Station Homeless Services, the San Gabriel Valley’s largest nonprofit dedicated to ending homelessness, has received a $5 million grant from Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos to expand its family support programs.

The award comes from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund, which distributed $102.5 million this year to 32 organizations nationwide. Union Station was previously awarded $5 million in 2021 and is now part of the fund’s eighth annual cohort. The announcement was made in a GlobeNewswire release issued by Union Station Homeless Services.

“Every day, our team works with parents who are fighting to keep their families safely housed,” said Katie Hill, chief executive officer of Union Station Homeless Services. “This grant allows us to reach more families earlier, move faster and remove barriers that keep families from permanent housing.”

Union Station was identified to receive the grant by a group of national advisors who are leading advocates and bring expertise on homelessness, housing policy and effective approaches to family homelessness.

The Pasadena-based nonprofit plans to use the one-time grant over the next five years to increase housing placements and provide flexible financial assistance for rehousing, childcare, transportation and stability support. The organization’s earlier grant broadened its impact across all family-serving programs, with a special focus on family crisis and interim housing and specialty programs designed to help parents and children move into a permanent rental unit. Funds from that grant allowed Union Station to provide interim housing and supportive services to more than 700 families and to move over 530 families into permanent housing.

“People come to us during the most frightening moments of their lives,” said Amanda Green, chief operations officer. “This support helps us remove red tape, respond faster and build pathways to housing that honor dignity and choice.”

Since its launch in 2018, the Day 1 Families Fund has awarded 280 grants totaling more than $850 million to organizations serving families in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam.

Union Station Homeless Services has operated for more than 51 years, offering outreach, housing, food programs and care coordination to help families and individuals move from crisis to stability.