Press Release | November 21, 2019
Contact: Kelly Rose | krose@welcomehouseky.org | 859-431-8717
[Covington, Ky.] Welcome House Northern of Kentucky, the only women’s and children’s low-barrier shelter in Northern Kentucky, today announced that it has been selected to receive a $1.25 million grant from the Day 1 Families Fund. The organization’s mission is to provide a continuum of services that will end homelessness and promote stability for each person they serve.“Our recognition by such a respected organization says a lot about the professionals, funders and volunteers of Welcome House,” said Welcome House CEO Danielle Amrine. “It is nothing short of inspiring. The bottom line is that this grant will help end homelessness for more people in our community.”
This one-time grant, awarded to organizations moving the needle on family homelessness, will allow Welcome House Northern Kentucky to enhance current programming. The organization will be able to help more families find affordable housing and provide them with services that will keep them housed. These services include mental health services, SNAP benefits, employment and basic life skills.
Welcome House Northern Kentucky is one of 32 nonprofits across the U.S. to receive the second annual Day 1 Families Fund grants, as part of a broad investment by the Day 1 Families Fund to help solve family homelessness. The Day 1 Families Fund issued a total of $98.5 million in grants this year. The fundworked with an advisory board of homelessness advocates and experts who identified and invited organizations to submit grant proposals to support their efforts to address homelessness. This year, the grant recipients from around the country include: Bethany House Services, Catholic Charities Eastern Washington, Catholic Social Services Alaska, Coburn Place, Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, Covenant House, Family Gateway, FamilyAid Boston, ForKids, Goodwill Industries of Northern Michigan, Great Lakes Community Action Partnership, Homeless Services Network of Central Florida, HOPE Services Hawaii, HopeWorks, Interim Community Development Association, Lafayette Transitional Housing Center, Mary’s Place Seattle, MIFA, Our Family Services, Pathways of Hope, St. Joseph Center, St. Joseph’s Villa, St. Stephen’s Human Services, St. Vincent de Paul, The Road Home, The Road Home Dane County, The Whole Child, UNITY Of Greater New Orleans, Upward Bound House, Welcome House of Northern Kentucky, West Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness, and YWCA Columbus.
“Welcome House took my daughter and me into their shelter when we were desperate for help and on the brink of living on the street,” said former client Karen M. “Since that day, Welcome House helped me with finding a job and a home for the two of us, I can’t imagine what life would have been like if we hadn’t walked through Welcome House’s doors.”
The Bezos Day One Fund was launched in 2018 with a commitment of $2 billion and a focus on two areas: funding existing non-profits that help homeless families, 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. The vision statement comes from the inspiring Mary’s Place in Seattle: no child sleeps outside. For more information, visit www.BezosDayOneFund.org/Day1FamiliesFund.
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About Welcome House of Northern Kentucky
Welcome House works to end homelessness. We do this by offering a continuum of services to our clients to take them from housing uncertainty to housing stability. Welcome House offers assistance in three main service areas: housing, income and benefits, and service coordination. Our organization was started in 1982 by a coalition of churches. Since then, we have expanded our services to not only provide an emergency shelter, but to take a holistic approach in our mission of ending homelessness.
