Jackson's Stewpot Community Services gets $1.25M from Bezos. Here's what it is for

Stewpot Community Services, a nonprofit faith-based organization providing food, shelter and other community services to people with emergency needs in the Jackson area announced Tuesday that the organization has been awarded a $1.25 million grant from the national Bezos Day One Families Fund.

Stewpot Executive Director the Rev. Jill Buckley said the funds will be used to expand services for and increase outreach efforts to families experiencing homelessness.

“We are so excited to grow this area of ministry,” Buckley said. “We have long known that the right scaffolding of services can make a big difference in helping homeless families to stabilize. This multi-year funding gives us a chance to build long-lasting support around some of the most vulnerable of our neighbors.”

Stewpot was selected as a grant recipient by a group of national advisors who are leading advocates and experts on homelessness and service provision.

“The grant is intended to specifically help families with children who are experiencing homelessness, so we hope to add shelter options and expand our outreach with other agencies including the Jackson Public Schools,” Buckley said. The agency currently serves about 118 people every month and has 17 beds in their emergency services division, which they hope to expand on with the new funding.

Buckley, who joined Stewpot in 2017, is a Baptist minister ordained through the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Alliance of Baptists nationally.

The grant is one of 38 totaling $117.55 million being awarded this year to organizations in 23 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

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The fund was started six years ago by amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, whose parents Miguel and Jackie Bezos operate the similarly named Bezos Family Foundation, focusing on education issues. Miguel Bezos is Cuban-American billionaire and philanthropist who provided the initial investment to launch amazon.com.

On July 5, 2023, the foundation announced John Deasy had been named its new president. Jackie and Miguel Bezos remain as co-chairs of the board of directors.

Since its inception, the Day One Families Fund has provided 208 grants totaling more than $630 million to organizations around the country working to identify unsheltered families, help families regain housing and connect families experiencing homelessness to vital services. During that time the fund has helped to provide more than 30,000 families with safe shelter.

The Cleveland, Mississippi based Boliver County Community Action Agency was also named as a recipient of $1.25 million in grant money from the fund this year. Like Stewpot, a primary function of the agency is to assist families facing homelessness.

“This grant will allow us to continue our outpour of services to as many families as we can reach in the Mississippi Delta area,” said Executive Director Elnora Littleton.

Stewpot was formed in 1981 by a group of seven downtown Jackson churches eager to provide a coordinated response to increasing problems of hunger and homelessness in the area. Each congregation committed both funds and volunteers to help serve lunch five days a week in an old gas station on West Capitol Street.

Within 10 years, Stewpot had added a food pantry, a clothing closet, a medical clinic, emergency shelters, and a summer camp program. But tragedy struck the organization in 1991, when then-Executive Director Matt Devenney was shot and killed just outside the soup kitchen.

Nevertheless, a new generation of leaders remained determined to carry Stewpot forward and in 1992, the soup kitchen moved across the street into the former Central Presbyterian Church. The name was changed to Stewpot Community Services to reflect the array of services offered, which today includes 15 ministries supported by thousands of volunteers and donors each year.

More information about the Bezos fund may be found by visiting BezosDayOneFund.org/Day1FamiliesFund and you can learn more about Stewpot Community Services by visiting stewpot.org or calling 601-353-2759.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jackson MS Stewpot Community Services gets $1.25M from Bezos