'A lifeline': Jeff Bezos just donated $5 million to help the homeless in Miami

MIAMI — Right before the holidays Jeff Bezos is giving back to his hometown in a big way.

The Amazon founder will be doing his part to try to end the current housing affordability crisis.

Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sanchez — who are based in Indian Creek Village, a.k.a. Billionaire Bunker — are giving $5 million to the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust. The funds will be used in part to provide stable housing and critical services for those experiencing homelessness.

The Homeless Trust is just one of 40 U.S. charities Bezos and Sanchez are helping, doling out a total of $110 million, the Palmetto grad announced on Instagram.

Ron Book, the Homeless Trust’s chair, called the philanthropic contribution “transformative” and “a lifeline.” It’s also the largest gift in the history of the organization whose motto is “Everyone deserves a roof over their head.”

County leaders posed with the jumbo $5 million check from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund after Wednesday’s County Commission meeting. The Homeless Trust relies on about $44 million this year from a countywide restaurant tax, so the $5 million gift means a welcome financial boost for the agency. The Bezos donation was also seen as high-profile support that could prompt other donors to write big checks, too.

“This is really a landmark gift,” Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said. “We hope it will inspire to others to invest as well.”

The Bezos Family Foundation has helped homeless efforts in the Miami before, with the Chapman Partnership shelter system receiving a $5 million grant in 2022. Like the latest grant to the Homeless Trust, that gift was earmarked for programs and services helping families experiencing homelessness.

Bezos’ grant couldn’t come at a better time, with so many folks struggling in the wake of the COVID pandemic, and a new Florida law prohibits people from sleeping (and camping) in public.

As of August, there were approximately 1,000 “unsheltered persons” in Miami-Dade County, a year-over-year increase of two percent.

“We are beyond grateful for their generosity and are committed to making strategic investments to dramatically reduce family homelessness and ensure no child sleeps outside,” Book, of the Homeless Trust, said.

Back in May, another person closely tied to the Internet mogul, who is worth more than $200 billion, chipped in some serious coin to locals: Ex wife, MacKenzie Scott, gave away millions of dollars to six community-led nonprofits.

_____

(Miami Herald staff writer Douglas Hanks contributed to this report.)

_____